Making A Difference
by genhoss
Summary: ranma robotech xover. this is a hard story to write a brief summary for. but basically it's what impact ranma and Nodoka have on robotech, along with ranma coping with his new situation and conciquences of taking a lie too far. any way cc always welcom
1. Chapter 1

Forward for making a difference

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Sorry about the delay in releasing the second chapter, I had some things to takee care of, plus I was on vacation. i am re-posting the first chapter today and tommarow morning i will post the next chapter, it will only be about onethousand words.

I do not own ranma or robotech, nor a decent spellcheck

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Now into the subject at hand, I am not going to be repeating much of the robotech cannon. Why you might ask? Because the title is called Making a difference for a reason. I had wanted to do a robotech/Ranma cross and I know the complications of doings so. Magic and tech don't mix very well but if you tweek robotech alittle and factor in the protoculture then perhaps it can work.

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So what I hope to accomplish in this fic is to have Ranma and Nodoka making a proactive difference in the story. I decided to include Nodoka because I always felt that Dr. Lang could use some help, so I gave Ranma's mother the ability and background to do so. I did that because no other Ranma chareture really has enough smarts to be of any use with out making a lot of changes in the cannon and I am too lazy and lack the desire to do that.

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Also I chose Ranma to be a piliot because well that is where most of the action takes place and I can hardly see Ranma not as a piloit. I guess this is where things get ansty. Because Ranma is still a teenager and while I chose to have him facing of agiast herb before the start of this fic, he has not made a disiction to kill yet. All of his fights he looked at as a not life or death situation. I decided to combine that with the lack of a military mindset. While disipline is important to both military and martail arts there are key factors at play. Both are a means to protect however martial arts does not include killing in that goal, well it does as a last resort but it is completely different from killing on mass. Now I am not saying that the military kills on mass, I once was a soldier and was pretty good at it but there is a distinct difference.

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That difference along with the brief back story that I put in about the soul of ice will hopefully make the story more interesting.

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Now for the Ranma lisa pairing, I made lisa a little over two years older than Ranma, she was a child protge so I can do that, but I will hope fully take it into a different direction, I also do not intend to make Ranma reveal his curse to his mother yet, even though she knows. I was thinking about forcing him into the miss Macross pagent as well as a few other things Nodoka might do to presure him into telling. but I have not mapped this story out yet and if my style remains true I probably won't untill I near the end.

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Also, i may have left the rest of Nerima behind but they will make a re-appearance in later chapters.

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	2. Chapter 2

I made a mistake in the forward next chap ten thousand words

Ranma sat sulking in his room at the Tendo dojo. He was upset because he had just gotten into another fight with Ryouga and Mousse. The fight started as they usually do with Ryouga spouting off, "Prepare to die," for some obscure grievance that Ranma had committed. It was shortly joined by Mousse who was after him for trying to steal Shampoo from him. The ending of the fight came about when Akane stumbled across them; she had started to yell at him for picking on Ryouga and doing perverted things with Shampoo.

What was disturbing Ranma, though was the fact that those two nimrods owe their human forms to him. They both had used the locking ladle in hopes of locking themselves in human form. It resulted with Ranma having two animals accompany her while she battled for the unlocking kettle. At the time she had been locked into her female form and was lucky to be able to spray Mousse, whom in-turn unlocked Ryouga. After the fight the three of them had gotten along fairly well, until they arrived back in Nerima. Once back, they continued their relentless assaults on him. Gratitude must be a foreign concept for the two thickheaded dimwits.

Ranma was desperately thinking of ways to resolve his mess of a life. "_Why can't anything be simple, I have all these problems and few of them are even my fault. With Ryouga, I am almost just as responsible for his situation as he is; the only thing is that if he would not have followed me to china in the first place, then he would never have been cursed. I did knock him into that spring but he was so obsessed with me and partially his fault as well. Since then I have taken every opportunity to help him, I hide his secrets, I just restored his humanity. What else does he want from me? Then I have Akane, she seems more concerned over what I do to her poor Ryouga than what she has ever shown to me. Well that's not really true she does help me sometimes but then she shoves it back into my face. She claimed that she wanted to be my friend when I first arrived here, but after she found out I was a guy she flipped. I know I should of revealed my curse sooner but I did not know what was going on, I figured it was some scam from my old man. It is not all bad, it is just that I have never had a girlfriend before, and now I am being pressured to marry and I have no experience with girls. It is not my fault that they latch onto me like a hobo on a ham sandwich. Yet all she does is call me a pervert and whaps me with her mallet or yell at me for some slight against her, I find myself having to apologize for things that are not even my fault or actions taken by others. _

With a sigh Ranma continued, _"It's not like I ask Shampoo to crawl into my bed or hang all over me. I do not see how anybody could love somebody that spent months trying to kill me for just being better. I mean pops has been training me since I could walk, I barely ever go to school, barely ever had a lot of friends; it was just me and the art for almost all of my life. So it was no wonder that I beat her, she doesn't seem to train as often as what I have to nor does she put as much effort into it as me. She doesn't even go to school; it is a wonder that I am even able to pass my classes when I constantly have to fight some wacko. When Shampoo is not busy hanging all over me I have to worry about Uchan, I had thought she was my friend but she just wants to marry me. It's not my fault that I have such a dishonorable father."_

"_My pops, he made a huge mess out of my life, what am I supposed to do? If he really wanted to join the schools then why did he make so many other arrangements? The way he sold me off so many times, how am I ever going to get out of this with any honor intact? It is not like I can marry all of them nor would I want to. Without pops my life would have been a lot easier, I wouldn't have a curse that turns me into a girl, I wouldn't have so many fiancées, I would have known my mother. Ok I will admit that without pops I would not be as good at the art as what I am but is it really worth it to have less than a half of a life. Looking at my friends none of them are willingly my friends it is just a perk so they can get what they want from me, whether it be an heir, a fiancé, a moneymaker, breeding stock, scapegoat, manly man, or whatever else I might be."_

Ranma sighed again as his thoughts turned to his mother, "_I just wish I could get to know her as me and not have to pretend to be Ranko every time she comes over. Dame curse keeps activating every time I try to tell her that I am her son. Things might be easier she would quit waving around that Damm contract, but no, every time she comes over I have to hide as Ranko and pretend to be a girl while I listen to her asks if I think that I am manly. It is awful hard to see myself manly when I am wearing a skirt and sporting a set of double ds."_

Ranma pulled his knees into his chest and continued, "_After spending the past few weeks as a girl I realized that my curse is not as bad as the others, at least I stay human. I could probably learn to live with this if I was not living here, every time someone sees me in this form I am harped on. At least mom doesn't, but if she did, it would probably be "Shink" off with your head. Maybe I can convince her to nullify that dam contract. To do that though I need to get to know her, heck who knows maybe she will help me out with these engagements, although I wouldn't count on it. If I do want to spend some time with her, I need to figure out a way for me to stay in this form without locking it. I guess I could go to the old ghoul, I mean I just defeated Herb that has to account for something."_

Splash.

Ranma was brought out of his musings by a familiar sensation, looking up she asked, "What was that for pops?"

Panda signs are marked with //

/Boy your mother is here what are you trying to do. Get me killed. /

Ranma snorted and said, "Why would I do that, your fur is too mangy to be worth anything as a rug."

/Just go downstairs and see what she wants. /

Ranma sighed and made her way downstairs.

------------------------------ Downstairs --------------------

After coming downstairs Ranma saw her mother and Kasumi sitting at the table drinking tea, after looking around for everyone else, Ranma put on her best 'Aunty' smile and strode into the room and said, "Aunty, it's so good to see you."

Nodoka smiled at the young girl and said, "It's good to see you too dear, why don't you sit down here and have some tea with us. I have something I want to ask you."

Ranma sat down as gracefully as she could and asked Kasumi, "Hey Kasumi, where is every one else at?"

Kasumi smiled and said, "Akane is at Yuka's studying, Nabiki is out, father is at a council meeting. It's just us here."

Ranma nodded and turned to her mother and asked, "So aunty, you had something to ask me?"

Nodoka set her cup down gently, smiled at the young girl and said, "Well Ranko, I have a slight problem."

Ranma frowned at that; she did not like the idea of her mother having a problem with a little fear in her voice she asked, "What type of problem is that Aunty."

Nodoka beamed with the concern that was evident on the girls face and said, "Well I have been planning a trip to go visit my little brother ever since I found out that Ranma had returned. However, since he is not going to be around, I have an extra ticket; I was kind of hoping that you might want to go with me. Unless of course, Ranma shows up before I leave."

For a brief instant a slight frown could be seen running across Ranma's face as she thought, "_I really hate having to lie to her but this could be the chance that I have been waiting for. With every one else out of the way I might have an opportunity to tell her the truth, maybe my family can help, if they don't think I am some kind of freak." _Plastering her sweetest smile on her face she said, "Aunty I know Ranma would want to go, but if he doesn't show up I would be honored to go with you."

Kasumi nearly spit out her tea, after composing herself she said, "Are you sure about that Ranko? You know how often problems occur."

Ranma sighed and said, "I know Kasumi but I want to spend some more time with Aunty."

Nodoka feeling the unease at the table reached her arms out and grasped the two younger woman's hands and said, "Now, now, Kasumi. Everything will be all right. I am actually looking forward to taking Ranko with me. As much as what I want to be able to take my son, I kind of view Ranko as my own daughter."

Ranma sat there quietly thinking, "_If only you knew."_ Pasting on a slightly sad smile she said, "Thank you aunty, I would have been honored to call you mother."

Withdrawing her hands Nodoka said, "Now Ranko we will be leaving in a few days, I would like to take you shopping tomorrow to get you some more appropriate clothes."

Ranma tried to object she really did not want to be stuck wearing skirts and dresses around. Deciding to attempt to advert her fate she said, "Aunty but there is nothing wrong with the way I dress; besides you know I don't like to wear dresses."

Nodoka looked at the young woman sternly and said, "I know Ranko, but you really should start to dress more feminine. How are you ever going to attract a man if you are always running around like some tomboy? Tell you what, if you let me take you shopping I promise that you only have to buy three dresses. And I'll buy you four other outfits of your choosing as long as they compliment your figure."

Ranma frowned and thought, "_If I want to spend time with mom there is no way out of this, besides it's not like I have to wear the dresses all the time." _With a sigh of defeat Ranma said, "Ok Aunty, but nothing too girly ok."

Nodoka clasped her hands together and said, "Good, I'll be here tomorrow around ten that way we can have lunch and make a day of it. Now if you will excuse me I have some packing and last minute preparations to make."

As Nodoka rose up to leave Ranma went to escort her as Kasumi went to carry the dishes into the kitchen.

Realizing that she had no clue as to where she was going Ranma asked, "Aunty, where are we going to be going."

Nodoka smiled as she pulled the young woman into a hug and said, "We will be going to see my younger brother On Macross Island. We will be staying until the day after they launch the SDF-1"

Ranma was confused and asked, "What's the SDF-1? Moreover, I did not know I… Ranma had an uncle."

Nodoka said, "Well Ranma was very young the last time he saw his uncle so he probably forgot about him. As for the SDF-1, that is the alien space ship that crashed several years ago. You probably don't remember because you would have been a little girl when it crashed. But for years the UNEDF has been refitting her and prepping her to launch. Ranma's uncle is going to be in space for several years and I really had wanted him to meet him. Sadly he is out training again; maybe I will leave him a ticket so when he gets back he can join us in Macross."

Ranma felt ashamed for a second and said, "Aunty I am sure that Ranma would be there if he could."

Nodoka said, "I know dear, but I have to be going so take care and remember to start packing. You will have to stay at my house tomorrow night so we can leave for the airport from there. Oh, and don't worry about a passport, we will be taking a military hop over to the island"

"OK Aunty."

-------------------- Two minutes after Nodoka left ------------------

"Boy forget it, you can't go."

"Oh my, Ranma what about you curse?"

Temporarily ignoring her father she said, "Don't worry Kasumi I'll work something out, but I need to do this. As for you pops, if I didn't have this curse then there would be no problem with me seeing mom. But noooo I have to see her as Ranko if I want to keep my head. You are the one that came up with that stupid contract not me. If you have a problem with me going tough, mom has suffered enough."

"Boy I said no."

Ranma scoffed and said, "I don't care what you say."

"Boy I will not let you get me killed." With that, said Genma launched himself into a relentless attack in an effort to pound his child into obedience.

Ranma, being better than her father for a while, decided that it was time to stop playing around with him and ducked the first few blows. Summoning a large amount of ki and working it into her hands, she delivered a blow that sent her father flying into the wall where he slowly slid down unconscious.

Seeing that her father was finished she turned to Kasumi and said, "Kasumi, I need to take care of a few things, I'll be back after awhile."

Kasumi nodded and said, "Ok Ranma-kun, just be back for dinner. I want to make something special to send you on your way."

"Ok Kasumi, see you in a bit."

------------- At the Cat Café -----------

Ranma pushed the door in slowly trying not to alert any lovesick amazons to her presence. Reaching out with her ki she searched the restaurant for signs of her over zealous would be wife. Not sensing her she called out, "Hey, old ghoul you in here?"

Crack

"Ow, Damm, what was that for?"

"Son-in-law what brings you here? Are you looking for my great granddaughter? Perhaps to take her out for a date."

Ranma shook her head and said, "No, I actually came here looking for you."

Hopping over on her cane Cologne asked, "Well what do you want sonny boy?"

Following the elder over to a table Ranma sat down and said, "I want something from you, if you have it."

Cologne raised an eyebrow at that and said, "If you are ready to accept your marriage to Shampoo, I foresee no problem with helping you."

Internally Ranma smiled, she had been practicing negotiating with Nabiki for the past two weeks. It might have been financially costly to her but the results were well worth it. Clearing her throat she said, "I really think it's in your best interests to do this pro-bono."

Cologne cackled gleefully and said, "Nothing is free, son-in-law. Now what do you want?"

Ranma nodded her head and said, "Ah, true nothing is free but I have a feeling that you are going to do this. Now to the point, you are aware of the circumstances involving my mother and why I am not allowed to see her in my normal form?"

Cologne nodded.

"Today she decided to ask me to go on vacation with her and well I decided to go. Here's the thing though I need to be able to stay female around her. I don't want to have to lock my curse though. If she were to find out that I am her son you know, I would have no choice but to follow her wishes. In turn, that leaves you without your wonderful would be son-in-law. Get my point."

Cologne was partially shocked, since when has Ranma ever been able to negotiate. Acknowledging her point she said, "I do have some stuff that will work. I have a box of waterproof soap and a box of instant girl powder."

Perplexed Ranma asked, "I know what the soap does but what about the powder?"

Cologne cackled and said, "If you put the powder in hot water it will temporarily reset the water temperature that the curse is activated. So if you use boiling water with a packet you won't change unless you use boiling water."

Ranma sat quietly for a minute thinking, "_What should I do? I could use the soap, but I really do not want to be locked at all. Nowadays I have good enough control of my ki to where I can withstand boiling water. I know." _Smiling Ranma said, "Thanks elder, I think I'll take both, just to keep my options open, you know. After all you wouldn't want your son-in-law to die prematurely."

Cologne ground her teeth in anger, this upstart won this battle and he used to be so ignorant before. Plastering on a smile she said, "Ok, I'll have Mousse go and get what you want. Meanwhile why don't you tell me how your bargaining skills have managed to improve all of the sudden?"

Ranma waited until she saw Mousse go upstairs and said, "Well you know how the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Well I decided that too many people take advantage of my friendship."

------------------------ Upstairs with Mousse -----------

Mousse had been ease dropping on Ranma's conversation and knew what the elder wanted him to get. After walking into the supply closet, he saw several boxes. Taking a box of waterproof soap of the shelf his eyes came across another box. With an evil smirk he thought, "_This will show that foul Saotome, while he is gone I will woo Shampoo away from his clutches."_

-------------- Tendo dojo 15 minutes later -----------------

Ranma happily walked through the door; she had two months worth of waterproof soap and fifty packets of instant girl water. To make things even better she was not indebted to the ghoul at all. She went to go upstairs but was stopped by a fuming tomboy.

"Ranma are you such a baka that you want to die?"

"Nope, that's why I went over to speak to Cologne."

"So what? So you could go give that Chinese bimbo a send off before you leave? I can't believe you're such a pervert. RANMA NO BAKA." With that Akane launched her mallet of doom and sent Ranma flying out into the koi pond."

A few minutes later Ranma crawled out of the water and went inside the house, only to be ambushed by the moronic duo."

"Boy you will go apologize to your fiancée right now."

"Waah the schools will never be joined now"

"Woe is me, I have such a disrespectful son, oh how did I ever raise such an honor less son."

Deciding that enough is enough Ranma lashed out with her fists and said, "I did nothing wrong, and I am doing this for both our sakes. If I can talk mom out of that stupid contract we will both be free to show ourselves. I have thought about this a lot recently, and I think it's a good plan ask Nabiki she helped me come up with it." Seeing that the two dimwits were bruised and out cold Ranma took off in a huff to go pack a few things. Going upstairs, she was met by a curious Nabiki.

"What plan did I help you with Ranma-kun?"

Ranma smiled and said, "You remember a few weeks ago when you said that if I improved on my speech and negotiating skills I might be able to talk mom out of that contract?"

Nabiki nodded and said, "Yes, and if I remember right I just mentioned it in passing and I sure don't remember coming up with a plan for you otherwise you would still be out of money."

Ranma smirked and said, "Well I did learn from a master, and I figured that it was a good idea."

Nabiki was slightly miffed, the baka, supreme jock had taken one of her ideas and actually turned it into a plan. Holding in her ire she said, "How do you plan to keep from changing?"

Ranma smirked and said; "Now that's a secret. Tell you what though, I am in a good mood so I will send you a letter after I get where me and mom are going explaining it to you then you can sell the information."

Seeing that there was nothing that she could do to get Ranma to tell her where she was going. She walked off to her room to see if her lackeys had any information. If one were to look at her face as she turned they might have seen a hint of pride that was directed to her former student.

-------------------------- Later that night --------------------

Ranma had decided that the dojo was not really, where he wanted to be. To make matters worse after diner almost everyone had shown up and hassled him. He was getting really tired of putting up with everyone. After a few hours of fighting Ranma went to his room and grabbed his pack. After dousing himself with cold water, she took off on the rooftop express to her mother's house hoping that she would not mind her coming over a day earlier.

------------------ Nodoka's House -----------------

Nodoka was sitting on her couch talking to her younger brother on the phone she was saying, "I know Roy, but this is the only way. He has a lot of problems and I need to help him."

"…………"

"I know that I should just come clean with him but it will be easier if I go along with him for now."

"………………."

"Listen I never wanted him to be gone so long either, it was only supposed to be for a week then I got that Damm contract in the mail."

"………."

"You're probably right, especially after seeing what he went through a few weeks ago but I want you to keep him busy while I work with Dr. Lang."

"……………"

"I don't care; let him get to know his uncle, introduce him to your friends. If you want, since you told me that you are not teaching any new pilots go ahead and train him to fly."

"…………….."

"I want to help him, maybe he will want to go with, and if he goes then I will take Lang up on his offer."

"……………"

"I know that when he finds out he will probably be pissed at being manipulated, but if he can forgive people that try to kill him on a regular basis he will forgive us. Besides after watching those films that intelligence gave me I feel that I really need to get him out of that situation."

"…………."

"Oh and Roy how good are your acting skills?"

"………"

"Because I want you to do something."

"…."

"Good. Now this is what I want you to do…"

As Nodoka finished talking to her brother, she absentmindedly was placing a number of unmarked DVD's into a folder that said Classified-UNEDF-Intelligence. After hanging up the phone, Nodoka sealed the envelope and packed it into one of her bags. As she was doing that, she heard someone knocking at her door. Finishing up, she went over to the door and asked, "Ranko, I meant tomorrow at ten in the morning."

Embarrassed Ranma blushed and said, "Sorry Aunty, but things kind of got difficult at the dojo and I thought that I might be able to stay here until we leave."

Nodoka smiled and thought, "_Good thing she wasn't here five minutes ago, otherwise my plan would have backfired."_ Taking the young redhead into the house she said, "Oh, its no problem Ranko. You being early just means that we get to spend more time shopping."

Ranma groaned if there was one thing she loathed it was shopping.

Sensing a lack of enthusiasm Nodoka said, "Now, Now, it won't be too bad. By the time we are done you will have to fight off the men with a stick."

After having, a series of flashbacks Ranma muttered, "Like I don't have to do that already."

--------------------- The next day --------------------------

Ranma had gotten up early and after a brief workout, she applied some of the waterproof soap so she would not have to deal with any unexpected changes. In girl form Ranma was dragged from store to store, trying on various clothes so far she had been to Victoria's secret and been forced to get several sets of revealing female underwear. It was a fierce battle that Ranma had almost won but Nodoka had managed to convince her after putting on a lovely display of the you don't love me eye's. Ranma still rather weak willed when it comes to women and especially her mother eventually folded to her Aunties request.

After that, Ranma was pulled into a few women's fashions boutiques and modeled several outfits often complaining that they were too girly. This too became a mute point after Nodoka got slightly upset with her. It took until after lunch for Ranma to quit sulking but then after that she managed to enjoy the rest of the shopping trip with the help of the soul of ice. The last thing that Nodoka bought for Ranko was a set of luggage, Ranma once again tried to complain but Nodoka simply said, "You really need something better than that raggedy old pack to carry around your stuff. You can still bring the pack with you if you want but I insist that you use the luggage for the new clothes."

----------------- On the airplane ---------

Nodoka and Ranma were sitting in the upstairs of a C-5, though cramped it was actually comfortable. There were few people on the plane, as it was just transporting some supplies to Macross city. For once Ranma was not tired even though they had gotten up early to make the flight. Deciding that she wanted to know more about her mother she asked, "So Auntie, what is Ranma's family like?"

Nodoka smiled and said, "Well, there is only my younger brother, his name is Roy."

Ranma bluntly said, "Roy? That's not a Japanese name, I thought that you were fully Japanese."

Nodoka replied, "Well I am, however my brother is only half and he looks more like his mother." Seeing that she needed to explain more she continued, "Roy is my half brother. About a year after I was born, my mother died and my father decided to move to the US for a while. Once there he met Roy's mother who became my stepmother. We lived in America for ten years before moving back to Japan."

Ranma was happy because she thought that she might have more family than what she realized and asked, "So will I meet Ranma's grandparents too?"

Nodoka frowned and solemnly said, "No, I am afraid not. They died shortly before I turned sixteen in a car accident." Sensing her so-called-niece's despair she said, "Its ok. I am sure that if they were still alive they would be very proud of my son."

Ranma thought that last part was a little weird but shrugged it off after thinking that someone might be proud of her. Still slightly depressed she asked, "So what was your family name."

Nodoka smiled again and said, "Well that's a little bit of a story. See when my father was younger he was orphaned and adopted by an American. For along time he kept his former name Himura, but the couple that adopted him never had any children. Deciding that he owed a great dept to his new family, he accepted their name after I was born. My maiden name was Himura, but Ranma's uncle's name is Fokker. He did it that way so that both families would have an heir."

Ranma felt relieved for a bit and thought, "_My family is pretty weird, somehow that gives me some hope that mom and my uncle will accept me."_

Nodoka brought Ranko out of her thoughts by saying, "I need to be a little more honest with you though."

Ranma was puzzled and asked, "How so Aunty?"

Nodoka grimaced and said, "Well I led you to believe that I would be spending all my time with you but unfortunately I have to work."

Ranma frowned and asked, "Work, what do you do?"

"I am an engineer; I have been working on the SDF-1 for three years now. After Ranma was taken on his trip, I had nothing to do so I went to college and got myself an engineering degree. I work with a team lead by Dr. Lang refitting the SDF-1 and also assisted him on the Veritech project."

"What is a veritech?"

Grinning Nodoka replied, "It is a new type of fighter that revolutionizes airel combat. I really can't say much more that that but if you are interested Ranma's uncle is the head flight instructor and CAG of the SDF-1 and I am sure that he would be more than happy to take you up a few times. It seems that he has little to do for the next month because his last class just finished flight school three day's ago and he has been stuck doing administrative work. I had wanted Ranma to come along so he could spend some time with his uncle before he left, but don't feel bad about that honey. I am just as happy to bring you along and I am sure that Roy feels the same way. You are like a daughter to me even though we just met a little over two months ago."

At the last part, Ranma muttered darkly, "More than you know."

"What was that dear?"

"Oh nothing Aunty, just talking to myself. So can you tell me more about your self and Ranma's uncle?"

"Well let's see, after our parents died, Roy and I were sent to an orphanage. Being only sixteen with a fourteen-year-old brother, the authorities would not allow me to live alone with him. After a few months Roy's aunt on his mothers side decided to take him in. Unfortunately, she blamed my father for the loss of her sister. After Roy was taken away, I decided to leave. About a week after that I married Genma."

"Oh."

"I attempted to locate Roy but my resources were limited, and nine months after I met Genma I had Ranma. My search for my brother was put off until Ranma was three. Fortunately, a week after Ranma's fourth birthday I received a letter from Roy. It seems that he never forgot about his sister and had hired someone to find me. He was able to visit us for two weeks, because he had just graduated from Flight school."

-------------------- At Macross cities military airstrip ----------------

Nodoka led Ranko outside followed by three hapless soldiers that thought they might impress the two women by carrying their bags. Two of the men were able to carry some of the bags but the third person, whom happened to be slightly on the cocky and arrogant side was stuck carrying Ranma's pack. Normally that would not be a problem but it happened to weigh over three hundred pounds. When the guy asked what was in it Ranma simply replied, "Oh you now just stuff basic necessities and all that. You are lucky I packed that bag light it is usually a lot heavier."

Nodoka could barley contain her giggles. She thought, "_It might be a little overboard but that guy had used a rather cheesy pick up line. Honestly, who in their right mind walks up to a woman and say's, 'hey babe, you look new in town how bout I give you a ride"_

The three dopes were saved though as a green humvee driven by tall rouge looking blond man. Pulling over to the curb the man got out and went over to Nodoka to give her a hug. Pulling back he said, "It's great to see you sis, I take it that this lovely young lady is Ranko."

Nodoka beamed a smile and said, "Yes this is Ranko and she is one of Ranma's friends. Ranko this is Ranma's Uncle Roy."

Ranma was slightly blistering at being called lovely; fortunately, she was able to contain herself without alerting anybody. Composing herself she said, "It is nice to meet you Fokker-san."

Roy grinned and thought, "_I might not agree with this but this will be fun, for the next few days. Though I can't wait to see what my nephew looks like in the flesh."_ Grinning mischievously Roy said, "Now a young lady like you doesn't have to be so formal, you can call me Uncle. If you want to be a little less formal you can just call me Roy." After he finished speaking he gave his most charming smile followed by a wink and thought, "_I hope Claudia doesn't here about this, I would hate for her to think about me as a yellow hammer. Oh and I really hope that Ranma can take a joke. … Oh shit I think that wink went over the line she looks about ready to open up a can of whoop ass on me."_ Realizing the danger he put himself into he looked pleadingly at his big sister for help.

Nodoka had thought that last comment was a little over the top but she knew that Roy was just doing as she had asked him to do. With that in mind, she quickly took Ranko's arm and steered her to the back seat. Seeing that Ranko relaxed a little bit she said, "Roy was just teasing you dear, I told him all about that nasty Kuno boy that chases after you and my dear brother thought he was making a joke."

Ranma was muttering about perverted uncles trying to pick up on their nephew. Luckily, for her she was able to mask it with the grinding of her teeth. After calming down she said, "It's ok Auntie."

"Good because I think my little brother is just a tad bit too old for you. Don't worry though; I am sure that he knows some really manly pilots." As Nodoka looked back at her Niece she thought, "_Perhaps I went over the line."_

Roy sensing that the situation was volatile at best decided to interrupt and say, "Sis, Ranko, I have bad news for you. My hot water and gas are going to be shut off for the next few days so we will have to suffer through cold showers and take out. If you really want a hot shower, though I am sure that you can use the ones at the base. As for the take out, I know a really great Chinese place not far from my place. Oh and Ranko just call me Roy. I don't want to feel like an old man or anything and with you calling me Uncle I would get teased by the other pilots and have to spend extra time coming up with a crappy detail to punish them."

Ranma digested the information slowly and thought, "_If his hot water is out and mom will be busy then I really don't need to use any of my special supplies. That's actually good news, when I get back to Nerima I will have more left over, ohh and that means I can prank Mr. Tendo and pops. All I have to do is fill the furo with really hot water and put in a couple packets and walah. "_At that note Ranma started to laugh manically before her thoughts turned to the latter part of what her Uncle said and she thought, _"I could actually go for some good Chinese right now."_ As if on queue Ranma's stomach chose that moment to protest of its recent neglect.

Roy and Nodoka would of face faulted if they had not already been in the Hummer, as it was Roy narrowly missed hitting the three dopes that had carried Nodoka's and Ranko's bags.

--------------------- At the White dragon -----------------------------

Ranma walking followed by her Aunty and Uncle Roy, almost immediately she froze in shock. Out of all the Chinese places, she had to be working here. Praying that there was another waitress and that she would be the one that waited on them, Ranma fell back slightly and tried to modestly hide behind her Aunt. Her actions were in vain though upon seeing Ranma, Minmei walked over and was about to say something when Ranma took the initiative she said, "Minmei it's good to see you again. I have not seen you in seven months. When did you move here? Oh silly me you probably don't recognize me in this skirt, it's me Ranko, you know Ranma's friend." After saying Ranma's friend, Ranma winked very obviously in hopes that the sometimes-flighty girl would play along.

Minmei was surprised; Ranma was a friend from eight months ago when she worked at her parents place in Minoto. What surprised her was that Ranma was wearing a skirt and going by a false name, deciding to play along hoping that she would explain later Minmei stepped forward, hugged the girl and said, "Ranko, it's been awhile I could never forget you. I moved here about six and a half months ago, my parents thought that I should spend a year with my Aunt and uncle."

Nodoka was slightly shocked, this was not in her report and the intelligence report had been fairly accurate detailing Ranma's life for the past few years. What shocked her most was that Ranko actually had friends that did not want to kill her.

Roy was not sure what to think, he never looked at any of the reports and was only going by what his sister told him deciding to move the conversation along he said, "Ranko you know Minmei."

Deciding to answer rather than risking what Minmei might say Ranma said, "Yeah we met awhile back around the time I moved in with my cousins. Every now and then I would stop by for something and Minmei here would chat with me for awhile."

As the trio was guided to the table, Roy and Nodoka excused themselves and went into the bathroom.

Seeing a brief opportunity Ranma quietly said, "Minmei, trust me for right now I'm with my mother and she doesn't know about my curse and I can't tell her about it either. It's a long story but basically my pops screwed up big so now I am pretending to be the cousin of the Tendo's that I was staying with in Nerima."

Minmei nodded and asked, "Ok, but you have to swear to me that you will come in and tell me what is going on next chance you get."

Ranma nodded and said, "Ok, I'll probably stop by tomorrow. I will be staying with my uncle Roy for the next month with my mom."

Shocked Minmei shrieked, "Roy Fokker is your uncle?" Well she would have shrieked if Ranma had not covered up her mouth once she realized how loud Minmei was going to be.

Slightly worried Ranma whispered, "Sssh, not so loud, I am trying to hide here."

------------------- Meanwhile in the hall where the washrooms are located ------------

Roy and his sister were silently conversing about Ranma.

"Honestly Roy I didn't know he had any friends here. Since he does that might make it even easier to get Ranma to open up."

"Sis I really don't like this, I mean you told me that I couldn't tell Claudia or Lisa. Claudia is my girlfriend and Lisa is her best friend, if they find out that we are playing this game and manipulating them and Ranma they might flip."

"Roy I am sorry, but if I go and tell him I know he won't trust me, especially after all this time. His father has filled his head with so much garbage it's ridiculous, I know that a lot of the way Ranma acted in Nerima was an act and that he always tries to better himself. I just want what is best for him and if living as a girl getting to know his family to see if he can trust us, then I will let him do this. He really needs to deal with this curse its not going to go away, I know he just spent a little over two weeks locked in this form but he will never really be happy unless he can see that he is always himself no matter what body he is wearing. By being here with us, he can heal and not be hassled about it, and maybe learn to accept it. In addition, we get to spend time with him after being robbed out of so much of his life. If you really want to tell your girlfriend and Lisa what's going on then do so after they see Ranma transform and tell them to be supportive."

"I just feel guilty about misleading him, I mean you speak of trust and here we are his own family manipulating him. We might have the best intentions but you know what they say right?"

"Yes I know, leads straight to hell. The ideals of manliness that his father instilled upon him have him so screwed up. I also know that Ranma does not share those views but his attitude can be rather brisk to put it mildly. If we do this right then one Ranma will be better off, two he will not feel that normal relationships are filled with types of abuse, three he might even learn to better express his emotions without having to hold them in all the time. That Damm Amazon had to teach him that soul of ice technique that helps him bury his emotions, it's not healthy."

"How do you know it's not healthy?"

"Because Lo Xian is on my team and her mother was an Amazon until her aunt killed herself after constant use of the soul of ice. It represses every emotion and the more you use it the more you unconsciously repress. It is imperative that we get Ranma to open up. I also know just from being around him when he is her that she tends to be slightly more open, which is why I am not going to tell him I know. It is not as if he is going to be always stuck in that form, that is why I included you in this. When you are around I want you to bring him places as your nephew not your niece."

"Ok, I think that it is time to get back over to our table though."

The two siblings went back to the table and joined Ranko. They all talked for an awhile about the SDF-1 and Macross, Ranko had decided to ask her Uncle to take her up flying. Roy had told her that he would the day after tomorrow; he explained that tomorrow would probably be a rough day because of jet lag.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The next day Ranma had left Roy's house in the early afternoon saying that she was going to go work out at a park before meeting Roy for lunch. Instead, Ranma went over to the white dragon to see her friend Minmei. While she walked, she thought of how they first met.

- Flashback ----

It a few days after Ranma had come to the Tendo dojo, he had been wandering around reflecting on his life. Two days ago, he had just found out that he was engaged. At first, the girl had welcomed him but after finding out that, he was a guy and not a busty redhead she had flipped and pounded him with the table. His self-esteem and self worth had been dwindling ever since he had been cursed so he figured that he deserved it for being a freak, and a weak girl. So there he was walking down the street when he heard the familiar sound of thunder. Soon after rain started to fall and he felt a familiar disturbing sensation that meant he was no longer a he. She adjusted her pants and continued on her way until she had heard a scuffle coming from an alley up ahead. Her curiosity overruled her depression and she looked around the corner to see a young girl around her age pressed up against the wall by three large punks. She took off in a fit of rage because of the symbolism of what could now happen to her. In mere seconds, the three thugs were laid out, broken and bleeding. Shortly after her disposal of the goons, she had her hands full with an attractive young girl. Ranma stayed with her until the police arrived and never gave her name to the young woman.

It was the next day that Ranma once again found himself wandering the same area as before. Once again, an unexpected rainfall had changed her gender. With a sigh that held conveyed all her pent up emotions Ranma trudged into a nearby restaurant. Immediately she saw the girl from the day before and was about to leave when she was nearly tackled from behind. It took the girls parents to pry her off herself; after they got their daughter calmed down, they practically dragged Ranma over to a booth. It was then that the girl explained that Ranma was the one who had saved her. Introductions soon followed and Minmie's parents tried to offer Ranma something on the house, however Ranma was still quite depressed and just asked for some hot water. She had decided to let these people know that she was a freak first off so that they could forgo the friendly stage and treat her how she deserved to be treated.

Ranma's words were brief, as she explained why they would not want her to be there. Minmei and her parents thought that it was some sort of ill-mannered joke as Ranma explained that she was a guy who had been cursed. As soon as Ranma emptied the glass over her head once again rightfully reclaiming her gender, both parents stood in shock but Minmei lunged forward and hugged him. It was this hug that snapped Minmei's parents out of their stupor. They quickly sat down and tried to get the now young man to open up about what was bothering him so much that he thought that he should be hated because of things out of his control.

In the month that followed Ranma would swing by the restaurant two times a week sometimes assisting Minmei in waitressing, although Ranma never wore a skirt. The two of them became quick friends and Minmei's parents would often try to help Ranma with the many struggles that he was going through. But at the end of the month one of the guys that had originally attacked Minmei had managed to get out of jail and assaulted her once more, once again Ranma was able to save her but was frustrated because Minmei had still gotten hurt, a small gash on the back of her neck. Minmei's parents decided to move Minmei to her uncles the next day; Ranma took her leaving hard and thought that it was his fault for not being a good enough friend.

His feelings however did not stop him from going to visit her parents at first, but eventually Ranma quit swinging by because of the troubles that his life brought with him.

--------- End of brief flashback --------

As Ranma reached the doors of the white dragon, she contemplated whether she really wanted to tell Minmei what was going on. While it felt good to have friend that she trusted Ranma really did not want to bother her with her own problems. Instead, she decided that she would just tell a partial truth and ask her to go along with it. Her mind made up she opened the door and went inside. Minmei greeted her and they went to a corner booth so they could talk. The only other customer present was a young woman with long brown hair wearing a military uniform. Leaning back, Ranma asked for a glass of hot water.

After a minute Minmei brought over a glass of steaming water and dumped it over her head.

Relieved at being male again Ranma said, "Thanks Minmei, I needed that."

"No problem Ranma, if you don't mind telling me what's really wrong, that you have to go around pretending you is a girl?"

Ranma sighed and said, "Well several months after you moved away I found out that my mother was still alive."

Minmei said, "That's great news Ranma, but why are you staying in your cursed form?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. See when pops took me on the training trip he promised that he would make me a man amongst men or we would both commit seppuku."

Minmei gasped and said, "You aren't serious are you?"

Ranma nodded and said, "Yes, I am. My mom even has the contract; I have read it with my own eyes."

Shocked Minmei said, "That's horrible, what are you going to do?"

Ranma shrugged and replied, "I am not really sure, I have only seen her a few times since she found me. I was going to tell her about my curse right away but my pops went and kept splashing me to keep me a girl so she would not find out. But what I really want to do is get to know her and then maybe I can figure out away to convince her to accept me as I am."

Minmei nodded and said, "So Ranma what else have you been up to?"

Ranma sighed and said, "Well you better get comfortable this might take awhile."

For the next twenty minutes, Ranma sat there explaining the past six months of his life to a stunned Minmei. Unknown to him however there was another woman engrossed in his story.

Lisa had been sitting in the White dragon nursing her tea, she was meeting her friend Claudia Grant and her boyfriend Roy for lunch, she had decided to go early so that she could catch up on some readings that covered some of the latest modifications of the SDF-1. Lately she had not had any large amount of free time because of her administrative duties as the XO. After awhile she had gotten bored and started to reminisce of more simple times concerning the now deceased love of her life, Karl Riber. She had been musing about Karl when she started to get distracted by some one speaking. Focusing on the voice she saw a young man with a pigtail talking to Minmei, she was about to tune him out when she started to get enthralled with his story. The way he spoke was as if these things really happened to him. Honestly ghost cats, crazy martial artist challenges, ki blasts, dragon princes, and curses, it all sounded like something out of a movie.

Ranma was winding down with his story when he looked at the time, letting out a curse he said, "Minmei, I have to go, I'm meeting my uncle and his girlfriend here for lunch before he takes me to look around the base. So I need to go change other wise my mom will throw a fit that I am running around wearing my usual clothes when she went out of her way to buy me knew ones."

Minmei after scolding Ranma for cursing said, "Ok, I guess I will see you soon then." With that she off into the kitchen with a giggle.

Ranma was about to step outside when he caught a familiar looking person approaching the restaurant with an attractive looking black woman holding his hand. Silently cursing his luck Ranma looked around to see if there was any cold water around, not seeing any, he had to think fast. Looking around the restaurant he only saw one other patron, taking action he slid across from her and smiled nervously.

Lisa was not sure what to make of the young man that presumably sat down across from her she was about to chew him out when he spoke.

"I know this seems a little odd but I am not trying to do anything perverted. I am just trying to hide from my Uncle, after he walks in and gets seated I'll leave, just, please go along with me."

Lisa stared into the young mans pleading blue eyes and replied, "Just don't try anything funny mister."

Ranma let out a sigh of relief and picked up a menu to hide his face.

------------- Outside the White dragon -------

Roy walked with his girlfriend of a few years and said, "I am sure Ranko will be here sooner or later, besides we will probably have to wait on Lisa because we are ten minutes early."

Claudia laughed and said, "Lisa is probably already here, she rarely does anything but work."

Roy grinned and said, "Yep, she is a work horse, but the ship would probably fall apart without her."

As she passed a window Claudia said, "Hey, she is here and it looks like she has somebody with her."

Roy raised an eyebrow at that he was sure that the woman didn't have a lot of friends, with his curiosity peeked he said, "Well lets not keep her waiting, shall we."

------------- Inside --------------

Ranma watched over the top of the menu with abject horror, it seems that his Uncle and Girlfriend were coming right for him. Attempting to bury himself further into the menu Ranma failed to see them stop and slide into the same booth that he was sitting in.

Roy looked at the young man barely able to suppress a grin, the poor guy was so nervous that he had the menu upside down. Taking pity on the lad Roy said, "Hey Lisa who's your friend?"

"Yeah Lisa who is this young hunk that you are with, you have him so nervous it looks like he is going to bolt."

Lisa was not sure what the guy's name was, she thought it was Ranma but she was not sure. She also thought, "_Well he said that he was hiding from his uncle and Roy never mentioned that he had any relatives so his uncle must still be outside."_ Her course of action set she said, "Well I am not really sure this young man just sat down and is waiting for his uncle to come in and sit down so he can leave."

After hearing the brown haired woman speak Ranma cursed mentally, laughing nervously he started to speak only to be cut off by Minmei.

Minmei saw Roy and his girlfriend enter and placed two glasses of ice water on her tray next to two cups of coffee. Walking out into the restaurant she saw Ranma huddled in the same booth with his uncle, she was about to walk back into the kitchen when Claudia Grant saw her and called her over. She nervously obeyed, walking over to the table she said, "Welcome to the White Dragon it's nice to see you again Major Fokker, Cmdrs, Hayes and Grant." Minmei started to nervously place the coffee and water in front of Roy and Claudia.

Ranma was shaking like a leaf, Roy noticed this, went to place his hand on the lads shoulder, and said, "Hey kid relax, and it's not like someone is out to kill you."

After hearing his Uncle say those words, Ranma jumped in his seat and caused the glass of ice water that Minmei was carrying to be launched right at him instantly turning him into his cursed form.

Roy, Claudia and Lisa stared in shock as the young man at their table changed into a busty young woman. Ranma for her part started to rock back and forth in her seat muttering, "Don't wanna die, don't wanna die." over and over again.

Roy just stared for a minute why he tried to gather words, his silence was broken when he said, "Kid, err Ranko, relax nobody is going to kill you." His words had no effect on the pig-tailed young man.

Minmei was frantically trying to apologize her distraught friend.

After a minute Claudia and Lisa simultaneously said, "Will somebody tell me what the hell just happened and where did that boy go and who is this girl?"

Roy noticed that his Nephew was not going to snap out of his panicked state any time soon so he reared his hand back and slapped the young girl. The sound of flesh on flesh had the desired effect of silencing the room. Internally Roy was cursing himself forever agreeing to his sister's plan; it was obvious that that contract instilled a large amount of fear in his nephew. Clearing his throat he said, "Ranko, relax and tell me what's going on."

Ranma sighed sadly resigned to her fate and said, "My names not Ranko, My name is Ranma, Uncle Roy."

Lisa stared at the buxom girl and said, "Roy you never said that you had a nephew."

Claudia stared at her lover and said, "Roy, dear, what's going on here. You never told me about this."

Roy looked at the women around him and gulped. First, he addressed Claudia and said, "Well, I didn't know about this." Turning to Lisa he said, "I was going to introduce you to Ranko today at lunch." Turning to his nephew he said, "I trust your mother doesn't know about this, and the reason you are so worked up about this is that seppuku contract."

Claudia looked at her lover suspiciously; he was way to calm not to know about this beforehand. He had also used one of his poker tells when he said he didn't know about this, whatever 'this' is."

Clearing his throat once more Roy said, "Ranma, I really think that you owe some kind of explanation about this."

Ranma gulped nervously, lowered her head in shame and said, "Well it is an ancient Chinese curse. While traveling with pops on our ten-year training journey we went to various training grounds. The last one we stopped at was deep in the mountains of china at the pools of sorrow. It was nothing special to look at just a bunch of pools with bamboo poles in the center of them. See you have to understand that pops could not read a lick of Chinese; the map had a warning on it. Well because we didn't know about the dangers pops and I started to spar, almost immediately I knocked him into the spring of the drowned panda. While I was trying to figure what was going on a large panda leapt out of the pool that my pops fell into and attacked me. I was so distracted at seeing the panda that I failed to defend myself; I was sent flying and fell into the pool of drowned girl. Tragic tale of girl that drowned 1500 years ago. Now whenever I am splashed with cold water I turn into a girl. Uncle Roy please don't tell mom, I was going to tell her but not until I was able to talk her out of that seppuku contract. Please I do not want to die yet; I have not even had a date yet or kissed a girl, unless you count the times that I have been drugged. Just give me a chance to be manly, I promise I won't let mom down."

Roy held up his hand and said, "Perhaps you should start at the beginning and not leave anything out."

Ranma blinked no one had called him a pervert or freak yet, nor has anybody hit her yet besides the slap from her uncle. Not fully trusting the situation she said, "Um, are you sure this story is kind of personal and I don't really know these two women."

Roy sat silently for a second before responding, "Well Claudia is my girlfriend and Lisa is her best friend so they would find out some way or another eventually, might as well get it over with."

Ranma sighed sadly and said, "You want the short version or the long version?"

Roy looked at his nephew and said, "Give the middle version, just go into detail when we ask."

Ranma shrugged and started to tell his story; he was often interrupted with questions regarding specifics of training methods. By the time, he was finished his usually calm and cavalier uncle was blistering in rage. The two women at the table looked pale and Ranma could see their hands shaking. As Ranma took in their reactions, her shoulders slumped and she thought, "_Just great more people that are gonna see me as a freak or something, it's not like I wanted any of that to happen._"

Lisa and Claudia were both thinking about testing out the SDF-1's main gun, if for no other reason than just to make sure it works. Roy was really pissed he could not believe what his nephew had been forced to endure; he was finding it hard to not want to climb into his veritech and level Nerima. As he was thinking about what he was going to do, he glanced over at Ranma, a wave of understanding washed over him. Ranma seemed more ashamed of herself than actually upset that those things had ever happened; he could tell that Ranma was in some sort of denial, most likely a cross between survivor's guilt and Stockholm syndrome. (Roy is a captain and a leader so he would have enough experience to recognize it.) Making up his mind Roy thought, "_Ok, Nodoka, I see your point a little better now I might not agree with it but I see it a lot more clearly now."_ Looking at his nephew he said, "Ranma don't worry I am not going to tell your mother, neither are Claudia or Lisa. But if you ever want to talk about it again, I will always be willing to listen."

Claudia had been silent listening to Roy interact with his nephew/niece, she was very much in love with Roy but she was not going to pressure him into anything, she knows he will come around eventually. Her thoughts were turning to young redhead at the table she thought, "_That was the most disturbing thing that I have ever heard; it is amazing that Ranma is still sane. She/he is going to need a friend, Aunty Claudia. I like the sound of that._" Grabbing the redhead's hand to get her attention she said, "I'd like to be your friend too, you can come to me with any problem I'd be more than willing to listen."

Lisa listen and was not sure on her own feelings on the matter, Ranma was sort of like her in many ways. The way she/he focused on her martial arts was very similar to how she herself focused on her work. She also knew that Ranma like herself had very few actual friends. Her mind made up she said, "If you are ok with it, I'd like to try to be your friend also."

Claudia smiled and added, "Yeah now we got another person to go with when we have our shopping trips."

Ranma groaned at that, she may be stuck living primarily as a girl for the next month but that did not mean she was going to magically like shopping any time soon. Not wanting to show her discontent with the idea of quality shopping time she said, "Um sure, I'd like that."

Roy noticing that everyone had calmed down said, "Hey look at the time. Ranma I offered to take you up in a veritech earlier, if you still want to go the offer stands."

Lisa and Claudia added, "Hey that's a great idea Ranma you should go."

Ranma had forgotten all about his uncle's earlier offer and was glad to be presented with a distraction so she could get out of this embarrassing situation. Grinning she said, "Sure, if you still want to take me up, I'd like that. Just one thing, do you mind if I change back into a man first. I may be stuck with this but I prefer to walk around as myself, considering I still have to be Ranko around mom."

Roy said, "By all means, and I promise I will help you figure out what to do with your situation."

------------- With Nodoka --------

Nodoka had been silent listing to the briefing Dr. Lang was giving, now that it was over, she asked to speak to him on the side so she could go over a few thoughts she had had when she was spending time with Ranko.

"Dr. Lang, I was wondering something."

"What is that Nodoka?"

"Well I was eating out with my niece and I thought of something, see she is a highly trained martial artist and I have been out to eat with her a few times in the past several days and I noticed that she really eats a lot."

"Ok, go on."

"I was thinking, the SDF-1 has a lot of empty space right now. Basically all of the crew quarters are empty. Anyway, have you considered adding a few farms to the ship? You could add a few animal farms and a large garden, that way you could also study the long term effects of reflex energy on organic matter as well as supplying the ship with fresh food."

"Well that's very interesting to tell you the truth I never really thought of that, but it is a good idea, we know that reflex energy is not harmful to humans but we really haven't done too many studies on the effects it has on other orgasms. However I really don't think that we will have time to put in the last minute modifications that we would need to get the project up and running before we launch."

"I had thought of that too, but I was thinking that if you pitched it to captain Gloval then we might get some more engineers in here and if we used the marine Destroid's to help we could get it ready in less than two weeks. I have already taken the liberty to mark the rooms on a blueprint and took the time to make the alterations to the prints."

Grinning Dr. Lang nodded at his best assistant engineer and said, "Well it's a good idea, I'll take your plan in front of the captain today after I finish checking with team two. Meanwhile I want you to take your team to recalibrate the anti gravity pods on deck four."

--------------------- With Roy and Ranma -----------------

Wearing a red and black flight suit Ranma leaned up against the veritech that his uncle told him to wait at. Ranma had spent a few moments examining the craft and saw nothing special about it, it looked like a jet. Nevertheless, Ranma was bored so he decided to do some chi exorcizes. The current exorcize he was doing was one that helped his senses; he was looking for his uncles chi at the base, attempting to pin point his position. However when he first tried to do the technique Ranma had sensed a lager somewhat chi pattern behind him, in fact all of Macross island practically sung with chi more so than what it has population would suggest. However, after carefully examining the power, he was feeling Ranma knew it was not chi; there was no emotion to it.

"Hey Ranma you ready to fly?"

"Huh, oh yeah I'm ready I guess."

"You don't seem too enthused about it."

Ranma shrugged sheepishly and said, "Sorry I was thinking about something."

Misunderstanding what Ranma was talking about Roy said, "It will be ok kid, just remember that you have friends here. Now enough of that I had to go to my office and get you something, here this is your helmet and you will need these gloves. Once we get in the plane I will start to explain everything."

------------ In the Jet ---------

Under Roy's guidance Ranma put on the helmet and gloves and allowed Roy to connect them to the jet as Ranma settled in Roy came over the intercom and said, "The helmet and gloves are specially designed to give you a link with the veritech. What it does is allows you to fly without being dependant on the instruments, the only reason there are so many instruments is because this is a training model. Don't get me wrong all veritechs have manual instruments so you can still fly them without the specialized gear. The interface system works fairly simply just will the plane to move and it will, think of it as an extension of your own body. The better the link that you have the better the response time will be. Now sit back and enjoy the ride."

For the next hour Roy took Ranma through a series of almost impossible maneuvers, he knew from his sister that he needed to make a good impression on Ranma if he wanted to get him flying. After the hour was up Roy asked, "So what do you think."?

Ranma's head was spinning; the ride so far had been incredible. Only when he was practicing the art did he ever feel this good. The whole experience was incredible, he could literally feel the fighter as it moved to his uncles will. Early on in the flight Ranma had realized where the weird chi was emanating from, it seemed that the plane had some sort of chi battery and that combined with all the maneuvering his uncle was putting the jet through had him hooked. Answering his uncles question he said, "That was great, how much longer can we stay up."

"Quite a while actually, it's just one of the benefits of robotechnology, I have yet to show you the really cool part though."

"You mean there's more?"

"Oh yeah, check this out."

For another hour, Roy took Ranma through the two other modes of the veritech and proceeded to do many aireil maneuvers that had Ranma drooling over the possibility of learning how to fly. With barley uncontained excitement Ranma asked, "Hey uncle Roy, when can I start to learn to do this?"

Roy chuckled and thought, "_Maybe I went a little too overboard attempting to impress him, naw, there is no such thing as too overboard especially from what I know about him."_ With his grin hidden by his helmet Roy said, "Well if you want I can give you control right now, it's virtually impossible to crash one of these things unless you get shot down."

For the next hour, Roy watched as Ranma went and took control of the veritech and put it through a series of maneuvers. While it was not impressive as Roy's flying abilities it was almost on par with what pilots fresh out of the training program where doing and most of those pilots had experience flying other planes. What shook Roy up though was Ranma's performance when he put the veritech through maneuvers in soldier mode. Ranma had attempted and succeeded in doing a basic martial arts kata in the air. Infact the amount of control Ranma had in this mode rivaled a lot of pilots from his own squadron.

-----------Captain Gloval's office --------------

"Well that is a good idea, I can see the benefits from it as well as the good it will do for the crew to actually not have to be dependant on our current supplies."

"Thank you captain, this was brought up by one of my senior engineers, she said that it had a lot of benefits and I am obliged to agree. The only thing is we are going to need some help from the Destroid units as well as more engineers."

"Consider it done Dr. Lang. Just one quick question, how many more engineers do you need?"

Dr. Lang shrugged nervously and said, "Well Dr. Saotome said two battalions at least, that way we could assign them to separate areas and complete the entire project all at once instead of area by area."

Captain Gloval dropped his pipe and said, "Two Battalions, how many Destroid's do you need?"

"Only two companies worth."

"Well at least I don't need to ask for more of them. All right, I will go make the call and let you know what they say. Oh by the way where do you plan on putting this?"

"On the lower crew quarters deck, in the original crew's quarters, it's far enough away from everything else that we wouldn't have to worry about the stench even though we are going to install two more auxiliary air filtration systems. If you don't mind though Captain I need to get going I have to go assist one of my teams."

"Alright, I'll let you know when I get an answer."

------------- Four days later --------

A lot has happened in four day's, UNEDF had decided to green light Nodoka's suggestion, Ranma has been kept occupied by his uncle putting him through a highly modified fast paced flight school, Claudia and Lisa had taken Ranma out to lunch a few times and brought him out to dinner in his Ranko persona once. Oh yeah and that day the hot water and the gas was turned back on in Roy's apartment.

Currently Ranma was sitting in the bathroom debating whether or not she wanted to use a packet of the instant curse. It sat in a glass steaming on top of the bathroom sink. Ranma was undecided though because she really did not want to mess with her curse at all, recently she had been having problems with it. Not problems in the bad way but good problems and Ranma knew that good was bad.

For the past few days instead of Ranma, being a water magnate in attempts to activate or deactivate his curse the opposite had been happening. Now Ranma was not getting soaked whenever he/she turned around. Instead, she had been living a relatively dry life; any water that had spilled on her always coincided with her curse. If these new reactions were brought out by a change in the curse then Ranma was very weary of messing with it.

Her mind made up Ranma took the glass of water and dumped it out the window after checking to make sure that there was no one down there to get splashed. Grabbing a bar of the waterproof soap, she sighed and said, "Well hopefully this will wear off by tomorrow morning. I really don't want to go to the base as a girl, last time I had a bunch of pilots hitting on me and it took a lot of control not to bash them."

--------------- Outside a few minutes ago --------------

Ryouga was cursing his luck; last thing he remembered was being at the Tendo Dojo talking to Akane. Then he had turned around to grab his pack and found himself in the middle of a vaguely familiar city. He adjusted his straps on his pack and took off in a random direction cursing Ranma for all that he was worth, except that as soon as he mentioned the pig-tailed martial artists name he was splashed and all that came out was, "Bwe, bwee, bwwwwe." Turning around to get a good grip with his teeth so that he would not lose his pack Ryouga was splashed again and returned to human form.

Lisa Hayes was just getting out of a taxi having arrived at her destination, she was going over to Roy's apartment to meet up with Claudia, Roy, Ranma and his mother they were going to go out to eat once more before Nodoka became too busy with her project onboard the SDF-1. After exiting the taxi, she was confronted with a naked man digging into a large traveling pack. Lisa looked at the young man in building rage, the utter audacity of some people. With a cry of, "Pervert", she smacked the guy with her purse several times until the guy had enough intelligence to take off running.

-------------- Back to Ranma --------------

Ranma grunted to herself in disgust as she looked at her reflection, staring back at her was a young woman wearing a very formfitting white and blue Chinese dress. She irritably tugged at the hem in a vain effort to make it cover more of her legs. Ranma had tried to object to wearing it but her Aunty managed to convince her after a display of emotions. Ranma was cursing her weakness to women as well as her do-gooding uncle that had sided with her mother. Checking over her outfit once more hoping that she was having a nightmare Ranma walked into the main room for her final inspection from her Aunt.

"Oh Ranko, you look stunning. I bet you are going to drive all the men wild tonight. But dear, don't you think that your hair would look a lot better in a pony tail or loose. That pig-tail doesn't do you justice." Nodoka said while she actually thought, "_He does make a really cute girl, I just hope he will open up and confess to me soon. As much as I enjoy teasing him I would much rather have him know that I am teasing."_

"Auntie, I have had my hair like this for along time, I like it like this."

Nodoka took a step forward, turned Ranko's head so that she was facing a mirror and as she started to unravel Ranma's pigtail said, "Now dear look at this. Isn't this much better."?

Roy was having problems stifling his laughter so he settled to walking out on the balcony. Lighting up a smoke he turned and was confronted by a rather irate looking Claudia. Composing himself he said, "Oh hi Claudia."

"Don't oh hi Claudia me, you know that's not funny, well ok it is but not very much. You need to be more supportive for your niece." The last part was said as Claudia shifted her gaze to make sure that Nodoka was out of earshot.

"Yes dear", Roy said as he humbly looked down to his feet, had he not been still chuckling Claudia might have been convinced.

"Ok Roy, are you going to tell me what is going on here?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You have been acting kind of suspiciously starting with when Ranma changed at the Dragon four days ago. It also looks like you have been playing middleman for Ranma whenever her mother is around, making sure to assist Nodoka with Ranma. I know something is going on and I want you to tell me."

Roy shrugged and said, "Ok, I will but I can't tell you right now." Seeing Claudia start to frown he amended, "I will tell you later when we have a more private audience." He then added a wink just in an attempt to lighten the mood.

--------------- A few minutes later ---------

The entire party was ready; Ranma was now sporting slightly curled hair styled into a very feminine fashion. Everybody else was ready for them to go out to eat. This was going to be one of the last times in two weeks that Ranma was going to be able to hang out with her mother because Nodoka's project onboard the SDF-1. Afterwards though Roy was going to be taking Ranma, Lisa and Claudia out to a dance club. It was originally Claudia's plan because she saw that Ranma and Lisa got along pretty good, oh every now and then Ranma said something stupid but Lisa was being very lenient and patient with him.

As they were leaving Lisa said, "Ranko, you look very nice in that dress."

Ranma was about to let loose with an angry retort before he realized that Lisa was just trying to be nice and offered him a compliment. With her realization Ranma's face went from projecting anger to blushing shyly. Not wanting to upset her friend she said, "Thank you, but I think you look better."

Claudia and Nodoka watched the exchange barely able to contain her glee, it seemed that Ranma had some sort of crush on Lisa. Both knew that if a relationship formed between Lisa and Ranma it would only do the two of them good. Claudia thought that it would help Lisa move past her feelings for Karl and Nodoka thought that it might help Ranma recover mentally and reinforce his masculinity.

---------- Later that night --------------------

Roy was driving to the dance club after dropping his sister off at his apartment. Looking back in his rearview mirror Roy saw his Nephew (Currently posing as his Niece) sitting somewhat closer than necessary to Commander Hayes with a grin he asked, "Ranma did you want me to stop somewhere so you can change back into a guy?"

Ranma was not really happy about going to a club, one he was the youngest by a little over two years, two and more importantly she was forced to use some of the waterproof soap earlier just in case there were any accidents. With a grunt Ranma said, "I can't, before we left to eat I used some water-proof soap."

Claudia and Lisa joined Roy in staring at the redhead before Roy asked, "What does soap have to do with anything? And how in the hell can it be water proof?"

Ranma shrugged and began speaking as if everybody should know what she was talking about. She said, "Well there are a lot of ways that I can be locked in this form. I have packets of the instant girl curse that if I heat them up it will temporarily reset the temperature that my curse gets de-activated at. The other way is if I use water-proof-soap, this soap is magical and has the ability to temporarily lock me in whatever form I apply it in."

--------------- At the club ----------

As Ranma walked towards the front entrance she said, "You know I should have stayed with mom, I really don't want to spend the night defending myself from perverts."

Claudia walked up to Ranma, taking her hand she led her over to Lisa and said, "No problem, just stay with Lisa."

Confused Ranma shook her head and said, "Why would staying close to Lisa keep guy's from hitting on me?"

Claudia grinned and said, "Well I am not sure how to say this so I will just say it. Lisa doesn't date anybody."

Lisa was starting to get annoyed with her friend.

With a smirk Claudia continued, "It's not for lack of guys trying though, but over the past year most of the men have learned to leave her alone. In fact it's rumored around here that Lisa doesn't even like men."

"HEY" Lisa interjected, she may not want to date anybody but she was not a lesbian, she just was not over Karl yet."

Ranma was clueless and asked, "So what's that got to do with me?"

When Claudia glanced over at Roy to see if he would help, she frowned apparently Roy was standing by the doors attempting to be invisible. With an exasperated sigh Claudia said, "Ranma, you may not be a girl in the mental aspects but right now you are one in body, so if you stay close to Lisa tonight the guy's inside will steer clear of you because they would not want to make the most powerful woman on the base upset with them for ruining her date."

It took a few moments for what Claudia had said to sink into the minds of Ranma and Lisa, the second it did both protested loudly with a, "Hey." Unfortunately Claudia was already walking in through the door pulling a laughing Roy behind her.

Ranma looked indigently at Lisa and said with a loud huff, "I'm a guy. Besides I already have three fiancées in Nerima four if you count the Wacko stalker."

Lisa was slightly irritated at her friend for insinuating that she was a lesbian however she was slightly taken aback by the petite well endowed redhead saying that she was a guy and proclaiming her manliness to really take notice. Giggling softly she said, "I know, I know but you hide well."

(Ranma can't call her a tomboy when she already commented on Lisa's looks, Lisa also is not all that upset because, 1 Ranma is a guy, 2 she isn't over Karl and doesn't care 3 she understands Ranma.)

Thinking that what Lisa had said was a compliment Ranma smiled knowing that she had made her point and said, "Thanks."

Lisa laughed a little louder and grabbed Ranma's hand and said, "Come on lets go, it's getting chilly out here."

Ranma was slightly clueless she didn't think that Lisa really wanted to go inside shrugged and said, "Ok, but I don't think it's that cold out here."

Lisa looked at her and said, "I think your body disagrees with you."

Ranma was puzzled and looked at herself to see if she looked cold, after a moment blushed deeply and put an arm across her chest to hide her protruding nipples.

Lisa grabbed the Redheads arm pulling she said, "Come on let's just go inside we can sit around and have a few drinks and wait for Claudia to want to drag Roy home."

"Why would Claudia drag Uncle Roy home?"

Lisa shook her head at Ranma's clueless ness and said, "Just trust me in an hour or so Claudia will be all over Roy and they will probably want to go back to Roy's."

------------------- At Lisa's the next morning -------------

Lisa woke up with a groan; she had been hitting the sauce rather hard the night before. The reason she drank so much was that while Ranma wasn't bad company, she did complain a lot and nearly started several fights. Eventually Lisa had managed to calm Ranma down by shoving drinks down her throat. With a painful groan Lisa shifted position only to feel another body resting snugly next to her. Opening her eyes slowly mindful of the light Lisa gasped, she found herself staring at a very female Ranma. Immediately she was wide awake, checking for signs of anything sexual. She ran down a checklist, 1. She was wearing pajama's, 2. Ranma was wearing an oversized t-shirt, 3. The bed was dry, 4. After lifting up her sheet she noticed that Ranma was still wearing underwear.

Lisa let out a sigh of relief, she may like Ranma as a friend but she didn't want to have a lesbian affair with him. Deciding to get out of bed before Ranma woke up Lisa tried to disentangle her; unfortunately Ranma chose that moment to wake up. Lisa's movements caused Ranma to snap fully awake.

With a look of horror on her face Ranma started to apologize profusely, while she was covering her face expecting to get hit.

Lisa winced in sympathy and said, "You can open your eyes now Ranma, I am not going to hit you. All we did last night was sleep, if I remember right last night Claudia suggested that you spend the night here so you wouldn't be distracted."

"But ain't I being a pervert for taking advantage of you and cheating on my fiancée?"

Lisa shook her head and said, "There was nothing perverted happening last night." She muttered softly, "Not here anyway." She then continued, "Last night in body both of us were girls, and seeing that we both have our clothes on and the bed shows no sign of intercourse nothing happened between us besides sleep.

Ranma just nodded dumbly relieved that she was not going to be hit for a misunderstanding.

----------- Attack day --------------

Ever since spending the night at Lisa's Ranma had actually become really good friends with her. For the most part the month passed smoothly, with the exception of one event.

-------- Flashback ----

Ranma was sitting in Roy's bathroom preparing to dump some hot water with instant girl powder mixed in it. She was going out to eat with her mom for celebrating the completion of her pet project onboard the SDF-1. She had decided to use one of the packets today so that she could preserve the soap. The second she dumped the water over her head she realized something was wrong. She was a man, normally Ranma would be relieved but after her curse started to act weird Ranma became wary of these types of problems. Turning on the cold water he tried to turn himself female to no avail. Reaching down he grabbed the packet after reading the label over and over again he stated to hit his head against the wall in frustration. He was ticked; Mousse gave him the wrong box. Now he was stuck for several hours in his rightful form, the only problem is that he was supposed to leave with his mom in an hour. Reaching out with his chi Ranma felt out the apartment to see if anyone else was home. Luckily no one else was Roy had left to go pick up Claudia and Lisa was Busy pulling duty, his mother was do back anytime though. Slowly opening the door Ranma crept out into the hall and down to the room he was sharing with his mother. With a sigh of relief Ranma opened the door and started to dig through his pack looking for his male clothes.

The door to the apartment opened slowly as Nodoka walked through. She called out for Ranko but no one answered shrugging she started to strip so she could take a quick shower before getting ready.

Ranma heard his mom call out and was way too nervous to answer her, looking down he realized that there were no guy clothes in his pack, cursing silently he started to rummage frantically through his other bags.

(It didn't occur to him to put on his flight suit that was hanging in the closet.)

Nodoka walked into the washroom and frowned, she had forgotten her clothes and now she had to walk to her room naked, shrugging figuring that no one was home she headed to her room.

Ranma almost shouted triumphantly he found a pair of his black kung fu pants, he started to pull them on when he hear a gasp coming from behind him. Turning slightly as his pants were not quite up yet Ranma paled as he saw his mother standing there in the buff. At first Ranma was paralyzed with fear, until he realized that his mother could not possibly recognize him in his birth form because she hasn't seen it since he was five. With a quick pull his pants were now on, turning his head Ranma jumped out the window without looking back.

Nodoka stood in shock, her son was standing right there nearly naked, but it was her son in his true form, Nodoka wanted to lunge forward and hug him but was stopped at the realization that she was completely naked. When he turned to leave she watched silently unable to protest, the look on his face told her that he was not ready to explain the curse. After the time she had spent with him she knew that all she really wanted now was for him to trust her and stop hiding the other matters could wait until afterwards, then she would help him. Sadly he took off, Nodoka composed herself slowly and gathered her things she knew that Ranko was not going to make it that night.

After washing up Nodoka noticed that Roy and Claudia were there, she sat down across from Roy and said, "Claudia can I talk to Roy alone please."

"Yeah, sure, I will just go outside on the balcony."

Nodoka waited until Claudia was outside, clearing her throat she said, "I changed my mind."

Roy looked at her questionably and asked, "What did you change your mind about?"

Nodoka sighed sadly and said, "Ranma, forget the plan we had. I just want to see him as him."

Roy looked confused and asked, "What brings this on, before your were set on him having the opportunity to heal and adjust to the curse."

Nodoka replied, "Well, I saw him today in his true form. I just want him to trust me but I am afraid that if I tell him that I know he won't trust me and will leave."

Roy resisted the urge to say told you so, instead he said, "Alright I'll work with him. Why don't we try this, the air show is coming up. After it is over I was planning on taking Rick hunter up in a veritech. Why don't I have Ranma take you up, I will tell him that you wanted to go for a ride and that I think that he should be the one to take you because I have to take Rick up. In the meantime I will work with him to get him to tell you, and you can take that opportunity to speak to your son and convince him to trust you without saying that you know about the curse."

Wiping her watered eyes with her sleeve Nodoka nodded and said, "Thank you Roy, I don't know what I would do without you."

Roy grinned and said, "Hey no problem that's what little brothers are for."

Ranma was sitting on the roof of the apartment building cursing himself for his cowardice. He really wanted to be himself around his mom, now he was going to make her upset with him because he wouldn't make it to dinner as Ranko. He knew that he couldn't go as himself because his mother told him that she forgot to tell Kasumi where they were going, also Nodoka had told him (her at the time) that she forgot to leave a extra ticket. Resigned to his fate Ranma started to work on some katas to relieve his stress.

--------- Flashback end ----------------

With the exception of that hick-up the rest of the month moved quickly. Ranma found himself good friends with Lisa and had stayed over a few other times so his Uncle and Claudia wouldn't disturb him. He was still friends with Minmei and even helped her out at the restaurant on weekends when he wasn't studying to be able to fly. Speaking of flying his uncle had told him that he was a very good pilot for a rookie and even offered to pull some strings to get a commission so he could go into space with them. Ranma had until five o'clock to decide on what he wanted to do. Currently he felt that it was up to his mother, he was going to tell her today while he was flying her around. His uncle had worked hard with him with the assistance of Claudia and Lisa to build up the nerve to tell her the truth.

Ranma had left the air show early saying that she was hungry so that she could change now, he was currently waiting in his flight suit waiting for his mother to come over. He had heard some commotion coming from the air show earlier and felt that it was just a matter of time before Roy brought his mother over.

Roy was walking to the tarmac where two training veritechs were parked, with his sister and a slightly chastised Rick Hunter. Nodoka had bruised the boy's ego by telling him that it was wrong for him to intrude on the air show like he had. As he came upon the two veritechs he heard a loud noise, turning his head he watched as the SDF-1 fired its main gun. Looking at Ranma who was just as shocked as he was he said, "Take care of my sister, put her in the jet, stay here." Turning to Rick he said, "Rick stay put, and wait for me in the jet I have to go see what's going on."

Nodoka watched as Roy rushed off, she knew that there was a major problem if the SDF-1 fired the main gun; she just hoped that he was going to be ok. Deciding that it was probably safer in the Veritech Nodoka started to climb in, almost immediately her son assisted her.

Rick watched as the two people climbed into the jet shrugging he went and followed suit.

Ranma was worried; he had turned on the com-system so he could get a grasp on what was going on. All he heard was a lot of confusion, and then he heard Lisa order all veritech squadrons to launch.

His face turned pale as he heard the next part of the order, "Incoming hostiles, we are under attack."

Ranma sat their quietly looking at his radar, it showed a lot of hostiles, he was worried for his mother's safety. There was no time to get out of the Jet and get to a shelter and he knew that he was a sitting duck on the ground. But to take to the air meant that he would have to kill, and he did not know if he was willing to cross that line. As the city started to go into flames he thought, "_I can't stay here, we are sitting ducks in the middle of the tarmac like this. If I take to the air I will have to defend myself and this isn't a game. People are dieing I know how to fly this bird and I can make a difference. That would mean that I have to kill, it goes against everything I have ever stood for in the past, my life is on the line as well as my mom's. What do I do, what can I do?_"

Ranma sat there motionless as Lisa's face flickered on to his screen; she looked at him with her brown eyes and nodded before her picture faded out. Over the radio he could hear her yell at a pilot for not engaging the enemy. Ranma turned his head to the sky offering a small prayer he thought, "_What gives me the right to stay here and do nothing when I can make a difference. Martial artists protect the weak, there are several civilians that are in danger, the threat is not going to go away if I close my eyes and plug my ears. Thoughts of him standing over the dead bodies of his friends Ranma started to shake, he saw his mother, Lisa, Claudia, and his uncle dieing while crying out for him."_ His mind made up he thought, "_ The time to act is now, and it is my duty to protect the weak. May the Kami have mercy on my soul._"

In a subdued tone he said over the intercom to his mother, "I am sorry but I need to get us in the air, there are people getting hurt out there."

Nodoka smiled at her son, he had grown up rather fast and sacrificed part of himself to protect the innocent. In a supportive tone she said, "Don't worry I understand, I'll try to not be a distraction." Turning off her intercom she said, "I am proud of you my son."

---------- Bridge of the SDF-1 -----------

Lisa was calling out data to the pilots when she noticed that Ranma had taken off, unfortunately there was nothing that she could do but wish him luck.

-------- With Ranma ----------------

As Ranma eased into the air he saw the invaders in the distance, focusing his mind he flew the veritech into the swarm.

----------- Skull 1 ---------------

Roy was flying circles around the enemy, shooting them down as they approached. He was fighting more fierce than what he could ever remember doing in all his years as a pilot. He knew that he was in the thick of things and his sister was in danger with his nephew. As he flew he heard a familiar voice over the comm., it was his friend Rick Hunter whom he considered a brother. Hearing his voice Roy barked over the comm., "Rick what the hell are you doing up here?"

Rick responded nearly incoherently with, "I was waiting like you told me too when this lady told me to get into the air. I tried to tell her that I wasn't a soldier but she kept yelling at me."

Roy grunted and thought, "_I really don't have time for this, and it'll be hard to keep an eye on Rick when I am trying to ensure my families safety._" Over the comm. he said, "Alright Rick stay on my wing and try not to get shot down."

Roy flew in the air with Rick on his wing, until Rick's Veritech was shot up over the comm. Roy told him, "Pull the lever marked G and go into the city." Unfortunately for Roy the distraction of dealing with Rick allowed two enemy battle pods to lock onto his six. Now Roy was busy trying to ditch his unwanted tail. As he tried to evade he heard the missile lock warning and knew he was in trouble.

-------------- With Ranma --------------

Ranma charged into battle, as he closed in range he noticed his Uncles veritech being chased by two battle pods and there ware a few more headed towards him. He flexed his trigger hand and grasped the controls firmly; narrowing his eyes he altered his course to intercept.

Once in range he zeroed on his targets and fired two missiles, seeing the two pods explode Ranma felt a deep pang of grief, there was no turning back he was now a killer. Focusing on the other incoming battle pods Ranma flew into action.

------------- Skull-1 ----------------

Roy was starting to sweat big time, his momentary lapse of concentration had him now trying to evade two battle pods. As he banked right he saw another veritech flyby and fire off his missiles. As he focused on the battle he thought, '_who was that, that looked like one of the training Veritechs. Only two were out on the tarmac and Rick is down in the city." _ As realization dawned upon him he thought, "_That wasn't Rick that that was Ranma._" Regretfully there were way too many bogies in the skies for Roy to do anything about, other than offer a small prayer.

---------- Bridge of the SDF-1-----------

Lisa watched her monitor as it relayed information on the battle to her, seeing that there was a VT-TR (Veritech training model, yeah I changed what it's name was but I haven't watched Macross in several months) running amuck in the city she got on the COM to scold the pilot. To her dismay it was that loudmouth from before.

After she finished chewing out that pilot her eyes came across another blip on her screen. There was a VT-TR in the skies that already had twelve kills. Thinking it was the same pilot from before she was going to apologize for being hasty. Activating the onscreen COM she was about to apologize when she gasped from shock. The pilot was Ranma; he was flying with his mother in the back.

------------- Ranma ------------------------

Ranma watched as his COM screen flared into life revealing a very confused looking Lisa. Seeing the concern flickering in her eyes he asked, "Commander Hayes do you need something."

Lisa stared back at him for a second before saying, "No I was just checking on something, keep up the good work."

Ranma couldn't help but feel shame at being told he was doing good work, to him it was a necessary evil.

Moments later Ranma heard Lisa on the COM again, this time she was asking for assistance in the city, it seemed two Destroid units were being swamped by the invaders. Checking his ammo Ranma activated the COM and said, "This is VT-TR32 I am on route."

Ranma switched to soldier mode once he was in the city. As he darted through the streets picking off enemies he cam across the Veritech that was being piloted by Roy's friend Rick. Seeing that Rick was in trouble, his veritech was tore up and there was a giant coming at him Ranma let off a small burst from his GU-11, killing the giant. Not having any time to chat Ranma darted to the distance where his radar told him that a heavy firefight was taking place.

Ranma ran out of ammo with two battle pods still left, deciding to attempt to stop them Ranma engaged hand to hand. Using his Veritech as an extension of his self Ranma grabbed the leg of the closest one and ripped it off. Swinging the leg as a club Ranma took out the first pod with two blows. Seeing that the other one had started to retreat Ranma pursued and drove the leg through the cockpit of the battle pod, taking to the skies once more Ranma watched as the pod blew up.

Ranma was about to call Lisa on the Com to ask where he could reload when Lisa sent out the order to return to the SDF-1. Complying Ranma started to fly in when his Uncle signaled him and told him to stay on his wing.

------------- On board Commander Bretai's flagship ---------------

"Exidore give me the status on my forces."

"Commander, all of the first wave forces has been completely annihilated. Sir Zor's ship is charging up to initiate a space fold."

"Are they mad? They are in the atmosphere. Quickly Exidore send two ships to track them and order them to engage, tell them they are to take the ship by force and tell them not to damage the ship."

"Yes commander, sending the order out now."

------------ On the SDF-1 ---------------

Ranma sat in the room that his uncle told him to wait in depressed. He was upset because after landing his mother had not said anything to him and just followed his uncle. Ranma thought sadly, "_She didn't even look at me when she got out of the cockpit. I can never tell her now; she would be ashamed of me for endangering her life like that. I should have just told her to go to a shelter but no. I had to defend and protect the weak._ _I can't believe I was so reckless; I am no better than Ryouga. To make things worse I just killed, today I destroyed nineteen lives, even if they were the enemy I had no right. I am not god, the only comfort I take is knowing that there are a lot more people that would have died if I would of remained inactive._" With the horrors of battle running rampant in his mind Ranma went and broke down, with tears flowing from his eye's he stared at his hands wishing for the blood to wash away.

------------ Meanwhile -------------

The SDF-1 had executed a space fold; Rick and Minmei had gone out for a joy ride and were missing. Nodoka was in engineering reporting to Dr. Lang informing him that they had lost the ability to fire the main gun and fold again due to the disappearance of key components. It was then that Lisa Informed the Captain that they were on a collision course with Macross Island. Shortly after the de-fold two alien ships de-folded and the Valkaries were scrambled again.

Roy entered the briefing room that he had left Ranma in and stopped in shock. He never thought that he would ever see his nephew like that. He knew what the problem was though; Ranma had killed and was really efficient at it. Only a few other pilots had more kills than him, but they all had a lot more ammo. The VT-TR's only carried half the missile payload of the A model. Gathering his thoughts Roy walked up to Ranma and slapped him hard across the face and said, "I am sorry for hitting you Ranma but I need you to calm down right now. We are now in the orbit of Pluto and we managed to take Macross Island with us, as far as we know civilian casualties are at a minimum most people made it into the shelters. We have a problem, there are two alien ships out there and we cannot fire the main gun. We need you out there, I need you out there, the people of Macross need you out there, you are a good pilot. I am not saying that you should forget, in fact I want you to remember and make those bastards pay for forcing your hand. It was either you or them and you made the right choice. I need to go and get out there, but if you don't I won't hold it against you."

Ranma watched as his uncle left the room not knowing what to do. He thought, "_I don't know what to do, I could stay here and not do anything but that would be wrong. I could go out there and risk my soul but then I would be making a difference by protecting the innocents. Kami what do I do?_" A large explosion rocked the ship as if answering Ranma's plea for a sign. Standing up Ranma left to go face down his destiny.

--------------- End of chapter one ------------------


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to James Axelrad for proofreading for me and I do not own Ranma or robotech

----------------------- Bridge of the SDF-1 ----------------

Captain Henry Gloval was having a bad day, first the main gun had fired without warning, then an unknown enemy attacks Macross Island, said enemy then decimated half of the Veritech squadrons, the orbital fleet was destroyed before they could link up with the SDF-1. That was only the beginning of his bad day, since then the SDF-1 had been forced to commence a space fold within the atmosphere while above Macross Island. The result of the impromptu fold dragged Macross Island and two aircraft carriers into space, more specifically into Pluto's orbit.

Captain Gloval was about to order recovery teams to secure the shelters on the island when two alien crafts appeared and unloaded a few hundred-battle pods. Turning to face his XO he said, "Commander Hayes, I want a count of how many Veritech squadrons we have left as well as a count on how many Veritechs we have out there."

Lisa turned to her station and started to pull up information on her screen what she saw made her gasp in shock. Turning to the Captain she said, "Captain, we are down to fifty three Veritechs, most squadrons are down to half strength. Skull has only lost three, but Vermillion and black squadrons are almost completely decimated, they have a combined total of six Veritechs."

Fingering his pipe captain Gloval asked, "What is the status of the main gun?"

Claudia grant hung up the phone that connected to engineering and said, "Captain Dr. Lang and his staff say that there is no way to fire the main gun even if we transform, the loss of energy caused by losing key components during the fold have drained our reserves almost dry…"

-------------- Engineering ------------

Dr. Lang stood before his staff and said, "Alright people I want answers, we have no way to fire the main gun, our reserves are nearly gone. There are two alien ships out there and we have no way to stop them. Our veritech squadrons are down to half strength. We need answers and we need them now."

Nodoka Saotome stood in front of a monitor that was displaying readouts from their scans of the battle wagging outside. She was deep in thought on the situation, the enemy seemed to be using smash tactics, they were just trying to overwhelm the SDF-1's defensive forces and were doing a poor job of it, what was peeking her interest was that their power source seemed to be similar if not the same. With the though of, _"If we can get a hold of one of those ships we might be able to acquire the parts we lost when we folded." _ Turning around she said, "Dr. Lang I think I have an idea."

Dr. Lang turned from where he was going over the SDF-1's power readings looking for any spare power that they would be able to utilize to transform and fire the main gun. Turning his gaze to Nodoka he said, "What is it."

"Dr. the enemy is just trying to overwhelm us and they are not attacking the SDF-1 directly, so if I am right then they are not going to target us with their guns that leaves us with an opportunity. Our scans have revealed that they use a similar if not the same power source. What I propose is that we ask the captain to send out a boarding party and attempt to take the ship. It might be risky but we will need the spare parts unless we transform the ship. I know this doesn't resolve the immediate problem but I think that we can use one ship to take out the other."

"How do you propose to do that?"

"Doctor I intend to go onboard and use what we know of this ship and attempt to fire their main gun."

"How do you intend to do that, you have never flown before and all the ships controls are giant?"

"Dr. Lang, I will need a pilot and a VT-TR, that way I don't have to worry about piloting and operating controls."

Dr. Lang was quiet for a few moments, the rest of the engineering teams had yet to offer any suggestions, and this one did seem to be doable. Turning sharply he said, "I'll call up to the bridge and see if we can do this."

------------------- In space -----------

Ranma was flying through the mass of enemy battle pods, ruthlessly tearing into them. There were no thoughts running through his mind other than to shoot down the enemy, he had managed to engross himself fully into the soul of ice. He was still piloting the same VT-TR that he had previously flown because there were no other spare Veritechs to go around. That is why he decided to bring himself into the mass of them hoping that their misses would hit their own forces. Originally, he had been flying on Roy's wing but after several of the squadrons had taken heavy losses Roy gave an order to break formation and target at will. So far, he had been lucky in conserving his ammo for his GU-11 but he was out of missiles and now rapidly expending ammo.

----------------- On the Bridge of the SDF-1 --------------

Captain Gloval hung up the phone with a sigh; engineering had no way to restore power to the ships main gun, the power drain from losing components had them drained almost completely dry. They did have a plan and it was risky at best. Turning his head to his XO he asked, "Lisa, do we have any VT-TR's left onboard."

Lisa looked at the ships manifest and said, "No sir."

Captain Gloval shook his head and sighed this was not good Dr. Lang's plan depended on a VT-TR so they could send an engineer over with a boarding party to one of the ships to use their main gun.

Lisa sensed that the Captain was down about not having a TR model on hand, thinking quickly she said, "Captain we do have one left, its currently engaged in battle."

Gloval looked at Lisa and said, "What is a training model doing in combat, never mind that just get that pilot back here and have him wait for further instructions. Meanwhile get Major Fokker on the comm. and tell him to select a boarding party." Picking up the phone Captain Gloval called down to engineering to tell them that the plan was a go.

-------------------- Engineering ----------

Dr. Lang put down the phone and said, "Nodoka that was the captain he said that they are recalling a TR model and you are to meet him at bay three."

"Ok Dr. Lang, I am on my way."

"Oh and Nodoka, good luck."

"Thanks Dr."

------------------- In space ---------------

Ranma had just spent his last round and was about to switch to soldier mode to try hand to hand when his comm. flared to life revealing Lisa Hayes. Not letting his attention waver in a cold flat voice he asked, "Commander is there something that I can do for you?"

Lisa winced at the tone Ranma used; in the month that she had known him he never seemed this distant and withdrawn. Shoving her worry aside she said, "You are being ordered to return to bay three where you will re-arm and pick up a passenger. They will handle briefing you to the situation."

Ranma grunted and said, "Ok, just one thing, where is bay three?"

---------------- SDF-1 bridge --------------

Captain Gloval was listening to the conversation and was lucky that he was sitting down, otherwise he would have face faulted and that would have been bad to do in front of junior officers. Turning his head towards his XO he asked, "Who is that pilot and how can he not know where bay three is?"

Lisa looked from the screen to the captain and said, "This is Ranma Saotome sir, he is Major Fokker's nephew, he doesn't know where launch bay three is because he is not a member of the RDF." Turning her attention back to Ranma she proceeded to give him directions until Major Fokker came over the comm. and said that he would show him the way.

After finishing giving out orders Lisa closed the channel and turned to captain Gloval who was staring at her questionably. Slightly adverting her eyes she asked, "Captain is there something else that you needed to know about pilot Saotome?"

Captain Gloval stared bemused at his xo and asked, "Why is a non-military pilot in that craft?"

Lisa answered quickly, "Sir for the past month Major Fokker has been training pilot Saotome to fly."

"Commander that doesn't answer my question let me be more specific. Why is there a civilian out there in that craft?"

"Captain, pilot Saotome is very good, before the fold he had around twenty kills as of right now he has twenty two, three of which were taken out without weapons. He is out there because we don't have enough pilots' sir."

Captain Gloval observed this information and after a moment gave his approval. Nodding he said, "Very well, next time I want to know before hand…"

Lisa stood up, promptly saluted and said, "Sir, yes sir."

------------------------ Launch bay three -----------------------

Ranma settled his veritech into position and popped the canopy; he waited impatiently drumming his fingers along the side of the aircraft.

Nodoka managed to hold her gasp of surprise at seeing her son waiting in the cockpit of the veritech once again. She was tempted to tell him to get out and search for another pilot but she knew that there was no time. She managed to control her dark thoughts as the realization of the situation sank in. They were going onboard an enemy vessel to attempt to take it by force so they could use its weapons against the other ship as well as gain replacement parts for the SDF1's systems. Securing her helmet she climbed aboard and said, "It's good to see you again; I hope that we meet little resistance, but I doubt it."

Ranma shrugged in his seat, to him it did not matter anymore; he was now officially a killer. Two or twenty the end result would be the same; he would bring about their deaths. The choice was taken away from him these aliens had forced his hand and they would pay dearly for it. As he ran a system check to make sure he was completely rearmed and his systems were good he asked coldly, "What exactly is our mission? Surly they could have sent someone else other than you."

Nodoka was not sure how to interpret her sons cold tone but knowing that she did not have time for it replied, "We are going to board one of the ships out there and take control of it, then we are going to use that's ships weapons to destroy the other enemy vessel. As to why I am here, I am the most qualified person to translate the controls, other than Dr. Lang. Is there a problem with that?"

Ranma was taken aback by the flatness in which his mother answered him. Perhaps she was more disappointed in him than what he initially thought. Shaking his head he said, "No mamm, I don't have a problem."

Nodoka nodded her head and said, "Good, let's get going shall we."

-------- Meanwhile in Nerima ----------------------

Kasumi went outside to gather the mail, as she leafed through it; she saw a package for Genma from his wife and a letter to Nabiki from Ranma. Excited about hearing word on how Ranma was doing she scurried inside to find Nabiki and the elder Saotome. Deciding that word from Ranma was more important at the moment she went directly up to Nabiki's room. After knocking, she entered and delivered the letter.

As Kasumi entered Nabiki turned down her radio, she had been listening to the news. Currently the newscaster was talking about a terrorist strike that totally annihilated Macross Island. Looking at the letter she thought, "_It's about time, Ranma should have sent this letter weeks ago. I wonder where that baka is._" Opening up the envelope, she extracted the letter after reading the first few lines she put two and two together, her face paled as the letter fell through her hands.

Kasumi was worried; it took a lot for her sister to have any type of severe reaction due to a few years of practice. Her face full of concern she asked, "Nabiki what's wrong, Ranma's alright isn't he?"

To answer her sister Nabiki just reached over and turned the radio up hoping to hear of any survivors. Many would think that the ice queen disliked the pig-tailed martial artist but those people would be wrong, she was not in love with him by any means but she was fond of him and even though she never showed it she held Ranma in the utmost respect and thought of him as a friend. The only reason that Ranma was unaware of this fact was that Nabiki felt that it was necessary to keep him more distant so that she could stay in the background leaving her free to help keep the dojo afloat with her scams.

Kasumi thought that her sister was ignoring her because she was distraught over the tragedy of Macross Island; she reached down and picked up the letter from the floor. After reading the first few lines her face paled as well, feeling weak she managed to make it over to her sister's bed before she collapsed crying.

------------ In space outside of the SDF-1 ---------

The two Zentradi cruisers unleashed a new horde of battle pods to reinforce their dwindling forces. Though the new wave was not as large as the original, regardless the RDF was finding themselves hard pressed to make any headway.

Major Roy Fokker swore to himself, if the enemy kept this up there would be no way that, he could split the forces up to board a ship.

-------------- Bridge of the SDF-1 ---------

Captain Gloval fingered his pipe nervously, the battle depended on the ability to take one of the ships, but they would not be able to do so if the battle remained this fierce. Turning to his XO he asked, "Got any ideas on how we can come up with enough manpower to take their ship."

Lisa looked at her screen deep in thought, and then a realization hit her. She turned to face the captain and asked, "Sir, do we still have the two companies of Destroid's onboard?"

Captain Gloval looked at her and said, "Yes, they were still onboard today before we took off."

"Sir if we put the Destroid pilots in flight suits and have them stand at the bay doors we can reduce the number of the boarding party by half by having each veritech carry one to two Destroid's. Then we can use the rest of them as a long-range weapon sir. We will just station the rest outside of the airlocks and have them take positions on the hull."

Captain Gloval considered it for a moment, nodding his head in approval he said, "Lisa inform Major Fokker about the change in plan. Have the remaining Destroids converge at launch bay two to give suppressive fire to pave a path. Helm set course to bring us forward slowly, so we can keep the remainder of the Destroid's in range."

----------- Skull one ---------------

Major Fokker just finished speaking to Commander Hayes; having been informed of the new plan, he opened up his communication channel to inform the rest of the RDF forces. Over the comm. he said, "This is skull one, Skull flights one, three, and four form up on me. Everybody else Captain Kramer is in charge out here." That said Roy left the battle field and lead his small force to the SDF-1 to pick up their backup."

------------- With Ranma ----------

After Ranma launched back into space, he was ordered to grab a hold of a Destroid unit and form up inside the Skull/Destroid formation as they flew through the battle to their destination. The reason for it was to keep the engineer safe because the entire plan depended on his mother's ability to translate the enemy controls.

The formation sped through space dodging fire from the enemy battle pods. Drawing closer to their target the lead veritechs let loose a volley of missiles at a bay door, smashing it into smithereens. Once inside the boarding party, consisting of eleven veritechs and fourteen Destroids converged. Ranma watched with amazement as the blast hole that they used to get inside sealed by itself. He was brought out of his sightseeing as Roy said, "Skull four take three of the Destroid's and go down that hallway, skull three I want you to find the engineering section and secure it take two Destroids with you. I am sending all relevant data over to you. I want four Destroids to go with Lt. Weller; your mission is to seek out any resistance and dispose of them as well as providing backup. The rest of you are with me, we are heading to the bridge. Stay in contact, watch your six and get the job done, dismissed."

Ranma went to follow directly behind his uncle when Roy appeared over his view screen and said, "Not so fast, you need to stay towards the rear of the formation to keep Dr. Saotome safe."

Growling in frustration Ranma barked out, "Yes sir." Accepting his orders Ranma stayed to the back of their small force. After a minute Roy cam over the comm. and asked, "Dr. Saotome, do you know where the bridge is or do we need to wander around and hope that we get lucky?"

Nodoka grimaced, she was not positive on the location of the bridge; she only knew the general whereabouts of it from her scans. Sighing she said, "It is two decks up, I think. I can not be certain with the equipment onboard this craft."

Roy mumbled something and said, "Ok you heard her two decks up and hopefully we get lucky before we run out of ammo."

The small force was making quick progress through the enemy vessel, taking out resistance as they moved along. Upon reaching the upper deck, they found themselves pinned down by a large force of the giants. Ranma was practically seething in frustration, once they had arrived on this deck Roy had forbidden everyone from using their missiles at his mothers request, she was afraid that they might damage a system that they would need to fire this ships main gun. To him though the most infuriating part was that he was still stuck in the back and he was confident that he could dispose of these behemoths without being hit. After hearing his uncle on the comm. he muttered, "Screw it, it's not like I'm military or anything." His mind made up, Ranma switched into battleoid mode and flew above his allies.

Major Fokker was requesting reinforcements from Lt. Weller when a blur shot over his head going towards the invaders. After seeing whom it was he started cursing up a storm, regaining his composure he said, "Get your ass back here now. I told you, that you need to stay back." Silently he added, "Ranma you idiot, you are going to get your mother and yourself killed like that."

As Ranma flew over his uncle, his mother shrieked out, "What the hell are you doing?" Ranma coldly replied, "Getting this over with."

Bringing his GU-11 to bear down on the giants, Ranma unleashed a stream of bullets while he zigged and zagged down the corridor delivering instant death to those who stood in his way.

Nodoka watched helplessly as her son tore through the enemy's forces dishing out death without mercy. As she watched, she began to worry about her son's sanity and well-being. She knew that Ranma was a caring and forgiving person but the way he was acting was cold and emotionless. Being a soldier would have explained some of this but the fact of the matter was that until today Ranma was no soldier and had never killed anyone before even though he was now caught up in a war he was still a civilian and not even seventeen years old.

Roy shook his head, he was aggravated, Ranma should not be taking risks like that, and he should have followed orders. But noooo. Ranma gets impatient and has to disobey orders. Roy sighed, technically, it was his own fault, and he was training Ranma to be a pilot and not a soldier. While the two are related in, Ranma's case Roy did not spend much time covering military discipline. He had just explained enough to Ranma so that he would know the rank structure and appropriate responses when talking to an officer. Grinding his teeth Roy barked over the comm., "Dammit kid, next time I say stay back I mean it. If you want to act like some hot shot go find an arcade, I will not have people under my command blatantly defying orders."

Before the last body hit the floor Ranma hat transformed the veritech back into soldier mode. Looking over the fallen bodies, Ranma completely ignored what was being said to him over the comm. Seeing something shining out of the corner of his eye Ranma leaned over and picked it up. It was an exceptionally well-crafted knife. The only thing was that the slightly curved blade looked almost ancient and was in dire need of a good sharpening. Ranma moved to the side of the corridor to allow the rest of the group to pass him. Leaning against the wall Ranma was still fidgeting with the knife, currently he was slowly tossing it into the air and grapping it before it fell to low.

Ranma felt his seat jerk suddenly, after looking around wondering where the attack was coming from he relaxed and realized that the rest of the attack force was waiting on him. He scratched his head in annoyance and thought, "_Why didn't mom let me know over the intercom? For that matter, why didn't I hear an order to move out?"_ Checking his controls, Ranma chuckled nervously, before taking off to deal with the hallway threat he had turned down the volume in the cockpit to avoid being distracted. Restoring the volume, he said over the comm., "Sorry about that, had some difficulties, it's taken care of now."

Still agitated over Ranma's lack of ability to follow orders Roy chose to ignore him and grunted out, "Ok, now that everyone is ready, form up alongside this bulkhead, while I get ready to blow the doors. Kid I do not want you in there until I give the all clear, everybody else, be mindful of the bridge components. We are only going to get one chance at this so let's make it count and keep damage down to a minimum." After placing a few charges, Roy stood back and said, "On my signal unleash hell, three, two, and one." Roy deployed the charges and shouted, "Go." over the comm.

For the next several minutes, confusion reigned supreme as bullets and bodies were strewn about. Ranma waited impatiently for the go-ahead. The last shot had been fired three minutes after the door had been blown; two minutes later Ranma was given the all clear.

Walking in Ranma whistled at the lack of destruction on the bridge, oh, there were bullet holes everywhere but as luck would have it, none of the bridges interfaces had been hit. He was about to turn back on his internal intercom when he saw movement up high on the catwalks of the bridge. Without even thinking about it, he reared back his veritechs arm and launched the knife upward into the shadows.

Roy had been watching Ranma enter and noticed him preparing to throw his newfound knife, not knowing what he was aiming for Roy barked, "Kid what the hell are you doing?"

As if to answer him a loud crash wash heard, turning his veritech Roy saw one of the invaders lying in a crumpled heap on the floor with the knife imbedded in his forehead. After blinking several times during with Ranma had walked over and collected the knife, Roy said, "Err, good job kid, now if your ready its time to get to work."

Over his intercom Ranma asked, "Ok so what now?"

Looking over a few schematics and notes Nodoka said, "Go to the center consol, you are going to have to act as my hands so you need to pay attention and confirm with me before you touch anything, ok?"

Ranma nodded his head at first before realizing that she could not see him. Over the intercom he sighed, "Yeah I understand."

"Good, first I need you to open up a connection to the ship and get Dr. Lang over the comm. We are going to need the help in order to translate some of this. "

Knowing that time was short Ranma quickly complied, after a few seconds Dr. Lang appeared on his view screen.

Seeing that Ranma had complied she said, "Now I want you to…"

-------------------- Bridge of the SDF-1 --------

Captain Gloval sat in his command chair fidgeting with his pipe, turning his attention to his XO he asked, "Any word from Major Fokker?"

Lisa responded without taking her eyes away from her station, "Sir, Major Fokker reports that the enemy ship has been secured, no casualties to report."

"Estimated status until the boarding party can fire the main gun?"

"Sir, they are working on it now, Dr. Lang says a few minutes at best."

"How are our forces holding up outside?"

"Sir, no new casualties to report, however the attackers have begun to re-enforce their troops."

"Commander, I want Major Fokker to take his team and reinforce our squadrons. Have him leave the Destroid units and one officer onboard the enemy craft."

"Sir, if we do that then we are going to be leaving the ship practically undefended with only two veritechs and nine Destroids."

"I know commander, but we need to get this battle over with so we can begin rescuing survivors. The minute the boarding party manages to fire the main gun I want us to move in and dock with the other ship. I want two platoons of Destroids ready in the airlock to search for any aliens that might have been missed by the parties sweep. Once they finish I want them placed under the command of Dr. Lang and his staff. The rest of the Destroids are to assist in recovery operations."

--------- Onboard the enemy ship --------

After receiving his new instructions, Roy went over the comm. and said, "Ok every body, we have been ordered to pull out and rejoin the battle. Lt. Weller I am leaving you in command of the Destroids, I want you to come up to the bridge and keep an eye on the rookie here. The SDF-1 is going to dock with us and run another sweep for survivors after that follow any order that Dr. Lang gives you."

As Nodoka gave Ranma directions on what commands to input she attempted to get him to open up. She started with, "So, what should I call you? I haven't heard Major Fokker call you by name yet."

Ranma grunted and thought, "_This is my chance, I could tell her right now and she would have no choice but to accept me because without me she won't be able to finish prepping the main gun to fire. Whom am I kidding? It's not like there aren't other pilots around here. Besides, I already know how much of a disappointment I am. Manly men don't endanger their mother's life by taking them into battle. Manly men don't lie to their mothers for months, pretending to be someone else. And I know that they don't ever sprout a pair of breasts every time they get wet. I might as well face it, I am nothing but a failure to her, an embarrassment, freak, pervert and nothing I do can change that. At least I get to know her as Ranko; I should just spend whatever time I can before uncle Roy decides to tell her. "_

Ranma sighed as he continued, "_It's better this way, and as long as I don't tell her she won't look at me like some kind of freak even if she spares my life. What should I use for my name? I probably shouldn't keep her waiting but I need to think of something fast. I wish I could talk to Lisa about this. Wait I got it." _Speaking as gruff and murmured as he could he said, "Sorry bout that mam, I was a little distracted. What did you want again?"

Nodoka was frustrated and exasperated with her son she thought, "_Why can't he just fess up to me, I have been doing my best to show him that I won't hold it against him. Well that's not necessarily true, I haven't mentioned the contract at all, but I have used the word manly several times. However, Roy told me that Ranma was going to come clean today. Maybe with all that has been going on he has lost his nerve. The past several hours have been, well stressing I guess is putting it lightly. Maybe all the pressure has gotten to him and he feels that now isn't a good time. It's so tempting to just call him on it, but I will wait until he wants to tell me."_

Shaking herself out of her musings she said, "I asked what your name was young man."

Ranma was smirking behind his helmet thinking, "_This is one of my better plans, to bad I didn't think to disguise my voice earlier though. She probably won't even notice if I start doing it now. If she does then I'll tell her that I got a cold or something." _ Using his newfound, 'it's not me, I'm somebody else' voice Ranma said, "Names Larry Hayes mam."

Nodoka was barely able to hold in an unladylike snort of laughter; odds are that if she had been drinking milk it would have shot out her nose. Thinking quickly she turned off her intercom briefly before she lost her composure. She thought, _"I can't believe him, he thinks that he can go from talking normal to using an obvious fake voice and not think that I would be on to him about it. Howe stupid does he think I am, I won't call him on it though I want to see where he takes this."_ After switching back on her intercom she said, "Larry is it? I need you to enter a few commands for me. The main gun is almost finished charging all we have to do is input the coordinates. Patch me back to Dr. Lang.

After instructing Ranma/Larry on what to do, and then making sure that he did it in the correct sequence she said, "Good Job Larry, the main gun should fire in four, three, two and now." As it fired, nothing could be heard but a loud humming noise that rang throughout the ship. Watching the main view screen Ranma saw a massive beam of energy shoot out and strike the other ship dead center in the side. It had the effect of separating both halves before two secondary explosions finished the vessel off. Over the fleet comm., he could hear a lot of cheering and celebratory noises.

Not knowing what to do Ranma asked, "So mam, what now?"

Nodoka smirked evilly and said, "Well, now we wait. The SDF-1 should be docking with us shortly and after they do another sweep for survivors not caught up in our little intrusion then they should be giving an all clear. After that, I'll need you to take me down to engineering so I can supervise the removal of several systems that we need for the SDF-1. Meanwhile, we can get to know each other better. I do have a very lovely niece around your age I am sure she'd want to meet you. Oh and before I forget, is there something wrong with your mic, you sound different."

Ranma felt a sudden chill that worked its way into his bones, he knew that something was up; the sensation was very much like one would get from having someone walk over their grave. Over the intercom he said, "Ah well you see, it's probably the, um intercom or something."

Ranma spent the next several hours in hell, or at least what hell would probably be like as long as all Kuno's were incinerated upon sight. During that time, he managed to tell his mother that he was Lisa's third cousin twice removed and that they were friends and talked regularly. When faced with the question on where he had been for the past month he replied that he had just arrived two day's ago on the island. To make matters worse Ranma was shocked and dismayed when his mother convinced him to meet with his female form. Thinking that he could get one by her he had agreed but she said that they would get together after things settled down a bit. When Ranma asked why Nodoka replied, "Well there are a lot of things that need to be taken care of right now. We have the survivors of Macross city to bring aboard; hopefully Major Fokker is on that now. Then we need to figure out what we are going to do with them."

--------------- Main engineering several hours later ------------

Dr Lang was pacing in front of the assembled teams; He had his normal staff that was assigned to the SDF-1 plus two full battalions of extras, which had been in the shelters of the former Macross city. Normally an excess of engineers would make him happy but being that the majority of his staff was non-military, highly skilled and knowledgeable of the ships systems. Take that and compare it to two battalions that were military and not as highly skilled as his own team. He was faced with a dilemma, there were several projects that had to be taken care of and all of them were high priority. First, there was the need to build more Veritechs to reinforce the now half-strength squadrons. Secondly, they needed to send out repair crews to the damaged veritechs to get them ready for another assault that could come any minute. Thirdly, the components acquired from the enemy cruiser had to be installed and that means that they would need to utilize Destroid units to move them. Then to make matters worse the people of Macross city were getting anxious and impatient, he did not blame them of course but it was just one more thing to add to his list. They needed something to do to get their minds off the tragedy of what happened.

Dr. Lang stopped pacing and said, "Ok, here is the plan. Dr. Saotome you are going to take one of the battalions of engineers along with twenty Destroids and supervise the rebuilding of Macross city."

Nodoka sighed she figured that she would be the one to get this detail, clearing her throat she asked, "Are there any specifics that you have in mind?"

Dr. Lang stood silent for a minute and said, "Well, you need to find someplace where the construction won't be in the way of everything else that we have going on. While you are doing that, I want your team to start installing the new components. Just keep in radio contact with them incase anything comes up that needs your attention."

Commander Krieve I want you to go down to the shelters and gather everyone that worked in the Veritech factory, get started on repairs, oh, and take two platoons of engineers with you. The rest of us will be working on several things: we need to work on the Daedalus or Prometheus ensuring that they are air tight, rebuild the Veritech factory and the best way to do that is to expand on the one we have on board. That way we can double production, at the same time we are rebuilding it we will also be running the assembly line. The reason I have the workers busy working with the flight crews is that repairs are a priority. Now if there are no more questions we need to get to work."

After Nodoka finished giving last minute instructions to Lo Xian, whom she was leaving in charge of her team, she approached Dr Lang.

Looking up Dr. Lang noticed Nodoka's approach getting straight to the point the asked, "Something I can do for you Nodoka?"

Nodoka blushed because she knew that she needed to get moving and was wasting time. Straitening out her flight suit (she has not had any spare time to change.) she said, "Doctor before I go I was wondering what your intentions are for the ship we acquired."

Shaking his head Dr. Land said, "I honestly haven't even had time to think about it yet. Why do you have a suggestion?"

Nodoka smirked, she knew that her suggestion would add a lot of work to an already overfilled workload but she felt the end result would be more than enough justification. Giving off her best puppy dog look she said, "Well, now that you ask. I was thinking we basically have access to an extra ship that means power supply, generators, computers systems, and weapon systems."

"Ok, but I hardly think that it would be worth while to refit another ship, it took several years to refit the SDF-1"

Nodoka was grinning ear to ear now. Barely able to hold in her excitement she said, "True but that doesn't mean that we can't strip out those systems and add them to… oh I don't know? The carriers perhaps. We were originally going to link up with a few ships once we achieved orbit but they were destroyed so why not give the carriers an upgrade?"

Dr. Lang shrugged, truth be told he had thought about that but put it on the back burner because of everything else that had to be done. Nodding his head he said, "Well, I had thought about that too but right now we have a lot of work to do and that would stretch our resources even further.."

Nodoka frowned and said, "Well, how about if I work on that as well. I was going to organize all the contractors in Macross city and have them work with me; I figured that that might move things along a little faster. By the time, you finish with sealing up the carriers the town should be moving along by itself. The rest of my team should be finished within the next forty hours or so, they can assist me in planning then unless you need them for something else."

"Well if you think you can handle it. Go on ahead."

------------------ With Ranma --------

Ranma was currently pulling patrol duty; it had been under the insistence of his uncle that he had taken the assignment. Because he was not a member of the RDF (Robotech Defense Force) he could of just called it quits and find somewhere to sleep until he figured out what he was going to do. However his uncle had informed him of the situation out in space. The majority of the Veritechs still space worthy were deployed on Macross Island recovering the bomb shelters. So Ranma did the only thing that he felt he could do, he had volunteered to assist in flying the patrols. Originally, he had asked to help with the recovery of the shelters but his uncle told him that he did not have enough experience on board the SDF-1 to be of assistance.

That lead Ranma to his current predicament, he was now flying with Captain Davis of black squadron, or more accurately the sole survivor with a Veritech of Black squadron. They were pulling a four hour rotating shift with Blue squadron, who was down two three space worthy Veritechs. It was now only fifteen minutes into the rotation and Ranma was getting frustrated. In all his time in Nerima not once had Ranma used the soul of ice for any substantial amount of time, however in the past twenty four hours he had managed to stay in it for the majority of the time but now his hold was wavering. The emotions he sought to bury were starting to assert themselves, rage, anger, hate, self-loathing and fear. It was at this moment that he caught a small blimp on the radar. After reigning in his emotions once more, he called over the COM, "Captain, I am picking up something on my radar. It's coming from that moon you told me about Charon I think. Should I go take a look?"

"Hold up there kid, first we have to let the SDF-1 know that we are breaking off to investigate. This is black squadron lead to command, do you copy over?"

Lisa had been having a hectic day; being the XO she was responsible for coordinating all of the going ons for the ship. She had been so busy that she had lost track of where Ranma was and was slightly worried about him. When Captain Davis of black squadron called in it gave her pause, as far as she knew black squadron had been decimated and should not be running patrol duty, instead he should be assisting in the relief and rescue of the bomb shelters. Switching her gaze over to the tactical display, she pulled up a zoomed in display of the patrol route. She smiled she had found Ranma and he was still flying the same VT-TR that he had been when the whole mess started. Over the COM she said, "This is SDF-1 command to Black squadron we copy over."

"Command, the kid here picked something up on radar coming from the dark side of Charon, asking for permission to break off patrol and investigate over."

"Black lead, permission granted happy hunting, oh and Captain tell Ranma to be careful."

"Roger command, um who's Ranma?"

Lisa shifted in her seat, she knew that that was the Veritech Ranma had been flying but apparently, he must be taking a break or doing something else. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Never mind Captain just be careful out there."

Captain Davis turned his attention back to his wingman and said over the comm., "Alright Larry, we are a go. I want you to be careful in your approach in case it's too much for us to handle. Stay on my six and cut your running lights before we enter the shadows, we don't want to tip anyone off got that."

Ranma shrugged and then realized that he was not using the visual display to communicate over the comm. he said, "Sure."

The two veritechs broke off their patrol path and screamed silently through space towards the dark side of Charon. As they approached, their radar began to pick up several targets on the radar.

Captain Davis unsure of his wingman's ability said, "Larry I am picking up fourteen enemy battle pods. Keep behind me until I fire a volley of missiles then I want you to break off and approach on the right while I take them head on. I know the missile payload on your veritech isn't as large as mine but try to lock on as many as possible before committing up close. Copy that?"

Ranma understood what Captain Davis wanted; it was basically something that happened to him on an almost everyday basis back in Nerima. One person would attack head on while the other would wait until he saw an opening and attempt to blind-side him.

Ranma saw Captain Davis fire a salvo of missiles at maximum range taking that as his queue he veered of and swept back in from the right. Punching his thrusters for some extra speed Ranma closed in on the now thirteen Battle pods. He watched as they continued to fire away at Captain Davis, as soon as he reached within maximum effective range of his GU-11 Ranma released his entire missile payload while transforming into soldier mode. Three of the enemies were dusted in that maneuver. Ranma decided to take a chance as he closed in; turning on his running lights, he dodged to the side just as a salvo of missiles swept past him. Switching to battleoid mode Ranma attempted to circle while the Captain took out one more pod. Staying close to the rocky surface of the moon Ranma noticed that he had two pods on his six, veering right Ranma cut off his running lights, as he did that he saw a small ravine, breaking fast he transformed back into soldier mode and flung himself into the crater. The two battle pods flew right over him. Leaping out of the crater Ranma flipped back on his running lights to reveal two battle pods racing away from him. Switching to Battleoid mode Ranma sped up, as the two pods started to turn around having picked him up on radar Ranma released the last of his missiles. The majority of his missiles flew wildly and crashed harmlessly into the moons surface; fortunately, two missiles stuck their mark and took out the two pods.

"Good job there kid. There's six bogies left, the iron content of this moon is messing with our targeting systems, we're going to have to get up close and personal to finish this off."

Ranma shrugged, that's what he had been doing. He briefly pondered if the aliens would go for Bangkok rules (1), before shaking his head and charging into the fray. As he approached he once more switched off his running lights intent on forcing the aliens to rely primarily on their own radar. Switching into fighter mode Ranma sped up intent on making a quick pass. He stayed close to the ground kicking up a dust cloud that further obscured his approach. Ranma swept by taking two more battle pods out of the fray; veering left he narrowly missed colliding with Captain Davis as he made his own approach. Switching back to soldier mode Ranma brought his Gu-11 to bear down on one of the last two still standing, depressing the trigger he took it out. He then attempted to bring the other one into his line of fire but was caught off guard when the last battle pod fired at him.

Captain Davis was impressed; Major Fokker had told him that the kid was good for a rookie. Davis took that to mean that Larry was more than adequate in flying but no ace. Sure, the kid made mistakes, like nearly colliding with him but he was able to pull through in the end. As he turned, ready to make another pass he saw the kid going up against the last two pods. One was taken out immediately while the other one was able to return fire. Captain Davis accelerated and brought the last battle pod into his sights before it had the opportunity to finish off his wingman.

Ranma groaned in pain, the laser shot had not hurt him, having passed through the wing of the veritech, no it was all the spinning and crash into the surface that hurt. Pushing off the surface Ranma attempted to fire his thrusters but the one on his left side misfired; he experienced a momentary loss of control before he was able to composite for the damage. His comm. flared to life revealing a worried looking Captain Davis.

"Hey kid you alright in there?"

Ranma muttered something before saying, "Yeah I'm fine, bastard got lucky that's all."

"Hold up a second, I want to make sure your Veritech is still alright."

Ranma grunted incoherently before saying, "Its fine, left thruster is out but I can compensate."

As Captain Davis arrived along side the damaged veritech, he frowned and said, "Hey kid, looks like your leaking fluid or something. We better get you back to the SDF-1 to make sure." Switching over to the fleet channel he called, "SDF-1 command this Black lead, do you copy over?"

As Captain Davis called command Ranma was grumbling, he was upset that he was being taken out over some stupid reason like leaking something. He thought, "_Phey, for all he knows it could be nothing, its not like I can't fly anymore. Besides, I still have plenty of ammo left and am able to fly. There's only three more hours left in our patrol." _Ranma decided to switch over to the command channel to speak his case. His view screen was immediately filled with a scowling Lisa Hayes. She was right in the middle of Arguing with Captain Davis about allowing him to return to base. Ranma seeing that someone was on his side said, "Thanks Lisa, that's what I told him but he wants me to return to the ship."

Lisa was startled by the familiar sound of Ranma's voice, she had been in the middle of explaining to Captain Davis about how it was necessary to keep on the patrol path and not return to base as long as the Veritech could still fly. Stopping in mid rant she said, "Captain I thought you said that you weren't flying with Ranma?"

Puzzled Captain Davis said, "I'm not. That's Larry Hayes, says he's your cousin or something."

Lisa turned her attention to the pig-tailed pilot and said, "Ranma, what the hell is going on here, any why are you still in a veritech?"

Ranma shrugged and said, "I'll tell ya later about the name thing. But Uncle Roy," Remembering what little he knew about proper military decorum he corrected, "Err… I mean Major Fokker asked me to take this patrol with Captain Davis. Said something about not enough pilots to go around or something."

Lisa nodded on the screen in acceptance of his explanation and said, "Fine, Captain Davis is going to escort you back into the flight deck where you will be replaced by someone from blue Squadron."

In his cockpit Ranma was flabbergasted, once he came back to his senses he said, "I thought you were just saying that you needed me out here. Sides the damage ain't that bad."

In the background of the bridge, Lisa could hear a snickering Claudia Grant, fighting off her irritation she said, "That was when I thought you were a pilot and not a civilian. Now get your butt back in here mister."

Thinking that she was dissing his mad skills Ranma shot out, "Hey, that ain't fair, I can fly just as good as anyone else and I'm fine out here."

Lisa not wanting or used to being argued with said, "Deal with it, you are not a RDF pilot and I do not want to be held responsible for your death over something that could have been prevented. If you want to join up I am sure that something can be arranged but right now you are to return to the ship."

Ranma huffed and muttered, "Fine, didn't have to be such a tomboy bout it."

Lisa herd Ranma's remark as well as the majority of the now snickering bridge crew. Exasperated she counted to ten and said, "Ranma, I'm warning you, get back to the ship now and I won't get angry." The end of he warning was further emphasized with a half-lidded glare.

Ranma decided to silently comply, though it might have been because his gut was telling him that he would not like her when she is angry.

------------- Onboard the bridge of the SDF-1 -------

Lisa slumped bonelessly into her chair, she thought, "_There must be something about Ranma that just makes you want to hit him with the nearest convenient blunt object."_ She was broken out of her frustrated musings by the chipper voice of Sammy Porter.

"Excuse me mam. Mam."

Straitening up in her seat she shifted her gaze to meet the young ensigns and asked, "What do you want Sammy."

Sammy stood there nervously twiddling her fingers and asked, "Mam is it true that that guy was your cousin?"

Rolling her eyes she said, "It's complicated ok, why do you ask?"

Sammy shifter her feet nervously and said, "Well see, he's kinda cute and all and since he's your cousin the others and I were thinking that maybe perhaps you could introduce us?"

Lisa thought silently for a minute. "_If I say yes then they are going to hound Ranma and that means that when Claudia and Roy ditch me to go do their thing I'll be left alone. For some reason that kinda is a little unsettling, it's not like we're dating or anything. We are just friends, besides even if I am upset with him that's still no reason to leave him alone to be hounded by Sammie and the others." _Shifting her gaze to meet the expectant young officer she said, "Sorry, but I can't do that."

"Awe, but commander." Sammie whined.

"Listen Sammie it's nothing personal but he has a couple fiancées."

Sammie's eyes widened and she asked, "A couple? How does he get a couple of fiancées?"

Lisa shrugged and said, "It's a long story and not mine to tell, besides don't you have work to do?"

Snapping sharply to attention Samantha saluted and said, "Yes mam." before heading back to her station.

Lisa groaned once more in her seat wondering when the day was going to end, when she hear some quite noises on the bridge. Tracking the direction of the noise, she saw Claudia sitting at her station holding her hand over her mouth. Rolling her eyes again she said, "Laugh it up there Claudia."

Captain Gloval had been sitting silently contemplating the situation in his command chair when he noticed the exchange between his two-senor bridge officers. Wondering what was going on he asked, "There something funny commanders?"

Lisa immediately straitened her posture and said, "No sir, nothing that I know of."

Lt. Commander Grant immediately parroted the same action.

Captain Gloval grunted, absentmindedly twirling his pipe he thought, "_Women, I'll never understand them. I miss the good ole days back when the woman stayed behind and it was nothing but men. Back then we could smoke and drink to our hearts content."_ Out of the corner of his eye, Captain Gloval caught sight of Ensign Porter turning in her seat. Of course, that in its self did nothing for our stalwart captain no what got him was the ever so brief peek at the pink panties that became visible due to the shortness of her skirt. Turning back to his musings he thought, "_While I may not understand them, they sure do make good company on long voyages. May god have mercy on the perverted bastard that thought up that skirt for the uniform."_

------ In Nerima -----

Happossi sneezed, wiping his nose with his sleeve he continued sewing and cursing the RDF for taking his time away from his first love and forcing him to work. However he knew that his work went for a good cause, after all the women of the RDF needed a uniform.

---------------- Meanwhile ----------------------

Dr. Nodoka Saotome was driving through the SDF-1 followed by a convey of Engineers. She was leading them to the location she had chosen for Macross City. It was located a deck above from where she had placed the Farms. The area was originally officer quarters if the size and grand furnishings had anything to do with it, plus across from the second largest room was an even larger room that had originally contained a gigantic table with massive chairs. She figured this area was the best one to use because unlike where the good people of Macross city wanted to build at this area would be unaffected by the ships transformation. Moreover, it was more central to the ship and was less likely to suffer from of a hull breach. Rounding a corner she came across an unusual sight, there was a young man walking with Minmei. Pulling off to the side she called out, "Hey you two, what are you doing down here?"

Rick Hunter blushed, the tone of the woman almost sounded accusatory. Not wanting to seem like some pervert he replied, "We kinda got lost when the ship went into space."

Minmei smiled recognizing the woman as Ranma's mother so she said, "Hi, Mrs. Saotome. Rick was just taking me for a ride then all of the sudden he lost control and crashed. We must have been lost for hours, good thing you came by."

Rick wanted to protest but the piercing glare that the woman was giving him was enough to quiet his rebuttal."

Not wanting to hold the convoy up any longer than necessary Nodoka called, "Come on you two, you want a ride or not."

Rick almost wanted her to leave the two of them alone, but common sense reared its ugly head and told him that there would be several opportunities to get to know Minmei better.

-------------- With Ranma ---------------

Ranma followed Captain Davis in and then followed the flight crew's directions on where to park. After climbing out of the cockpit, he was met by a young man.

"Hey kid. You Larry?"

Ranma shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah who wants to know?"

"Major Fokker instructed me to show you somewhere where you can bunk for the time being. Oh, sorry bout that it's been a long day. Names lt. Gary Mitchell."

After taking a sidelong glance at the Veritech Ranma stepped forward.

Lt. Mitchell mistook Ranma's glance for anxiousness to get back into space. Putting a companionable arm around the younger man he said, "Don't worry bout your bird, maintenance crews are on the way. If I remember right blacks turn has an estimated wait time of twelve hours. So you might not make the next two patrols but you'll get back out there."

Ranma followed Lieutenant Mitchell out into the main corridor that ran to the various squadrons ready rooms, getting into a nearby jeep that was idling Ranma asked, "So where are you taking me?"

Lt. Mitchell grinned and said, "Oh its not too far, I just figured that after all that fancy flying you've been doing that you'd be too tired to walk there. Besides I'm in a hurry so I figured that I acquire a jeep to speed things along."

The rest of the ride was taken in almost complete silence partially because Lt. Mitchell was in a hurry and then there was the fact that Ranma was beginning to feel the strain from keeping up the soul of ice for such a long period of time. A few minutes later, the jeep skidded to a halt.

Hopping out of the jeep Lt. Mitchell said, "Right this way, Major Fokker must really like you. This room was one of the few deluxe suits on the ship; they were put in when important people decided that they wanted to visit. But hey, between you and me, you were totally awesome out there, that last patrol you did put you in the lead for kills. Hell rumor has it that they are going to offer you a first lieutenant commission based off of what you did out there. I wouldn't be surprised if they give you a squadron right off the bat either. Anyway here's your room, Major Fokker said to wait here until he comes to see you."

Ranma gave the easy going Lieutenant a small wave as he made his way into the room. Stepping in he felt that he would have been impressed if he had not been completely stressed. The room was Gigantic to his standards; upon inspection it was probably bigger than the Tendo's first floor and dojo combined. It was richly furnished with a full kitchen and private bath. As He begun to relinquish his hold on the soul of ice his appetite began to dissipate. Deciding that a shower and some sleep would be best Ranma started to strip, leaving a trail of clothing into the washroom.

Ranma was too busy mentally to complain as he stepped into the cool waters of the shower, causing him to shift into his female form. By this time she had completely withdrawn himself from the icy depths that she recedes into whenever she utilizes the technique. Feeling too exhausted to stand Ranma slowly sat down on the cold porcelain surface of the tub. For the second time that day feelings of guilt, sorrow, self-loathing resurfaced themselves. This time though there was no one there to snap her out of it.

------- 12 hours later ----------

Ranma had managed to pull herself together enough to climb out of the tub and crawl into the warm confines of the king sized bed. It had taken several hours but she had managed to fall into a restless sleep. In her sleep, she had managed to throw off all the blankets and entangled herself within the sheets.

DING

DING

DING DING DING DING

Roy Fokker was a busy man; he had just managed to take a two-hour nap before being woken up for a staff meeting with the squadron commanders. He had managed to make it through the meeting without chewing anybody out. Now though he had to run a few errands to do before he had to run up to the bridges briefing room for a senior staff meeting that was going to cover the plan for the immediate future.

One such errand was to swing by the room he assigned his errant nephew and offer him a commission. He had several mixed feelings on the issue. He thought, "_I don't know If I should be doing this, he seemed fairly shook up after the de-fold operation. Moreover, he is totally lacking in military discipline, onboard the cruiser he could have gotten him and his mother both killed because of his recklessness. Unfortunately we need him, his skills are too good for us not to take him, and this far out from earth we won't be getting any reinforcements from them any time soon."_

Roy depressed the door chime for the umpteenth time in several minutes, hoping that everything was ok with his nephew he used his master key to open the door. Walking in he was treated to the natural naked glory of his nephew, picking up a blanket from the floor he tossed it over the redhead to give her some decency.

Roy stood over his nephew/niece silently for a few minutes as he took in her disheveled state. He thought, "_Maybe this isn't such a good idea, the kid has already been through a lot before even coming to Macross. She does not even look like she had slept at all or eaten in the past several hours. For Christ's sake, she's still just a kid. Ok I'll ask and if she say's no I'll let it drop."_

Roy reached down to shake the redhead awake but as it reached within a few inches of her shoulder, it was entrapped in her vice-like grip.

Ranma was not totally aware but nor was she fully asleep, her dreams had kept up a relentless assault on her psyche forcing her to wake up constantly covered in sweat. Not totally sure of her surroundings she reached out to stop whatever was about to strike her. Opening her eyes she was shocked to see her uncle standing there grimacing in pain as she squeezed his wrist. After blinking a few times she relaxed her hold and said, "Oh, its you."

Attempting to lighten the mood Roy said, "And good morning to you too sunshine."

Ranma just gave a non-committal grunt as she sat up on the bed, allowing the blanket to fall off exposing her assets.

Roy just shook his head and walked into the kitchen, over his shoulder he said, "I came by to check up on you, I only have a few minutes though."

Moving over to sit on the edge of the bed Ranma groaned and replied, "Oh is that all?"

Coming out of the kitchen carrying a large glass of hot water Roy said, "No, that's not all, I have something to ask you too."

Accepting the glass Ranma restored his gender and said, "Well ask away."

Roy stared into Ranma's bloodshot blue-bagged eyes for a second before he asked, "Are you all right? You don't look so good."

Ranma straitened out his posture and said, "I'm fine, just a little stiff, that's all. Now you wanted to ask me something?"

Not convinced from Ranma's show of false bravado Roy was silent for a minute before he let the matter drop. Moving on to the reason that he was there for he cleared his throat and said, "Well as you may or may not know we are currently orbiting Pluto, without performing a space fold we are several months away from earth."

Ranma nodded and said, "Yeah, ok, so?"

"Ahem, well I stopped by to ask you if you wanted to join the RDF, we are willing to offer you a commission of second Lt. and put you on flight status. If you choose to do so, we are also willing to put you through a brief command class that will add to your skills and prepare you for leadership. Now I want you to know that you don't have to accept this offer. Infact if I were you I would consider it for a few days, maybe relax and go help out with the reconstruction of Macross city. I also want you to know that no one will think any less of you if you decline, I'll still be here for you as well as Lisa and Claudia."

"Is there something for me to sign?"

Roy sighed and asked, "Are you sure about this, it is a huge decision to make without even eating breakfast."

At the thought of food Ranma's previously ignored hunger reasserted itself. With a sheepish grin he replied, "Yeah, I'm sure. Never been really into the whole plan before I make a decision thing. So you got something for me to sign or what? Oh and I suppose that I should probably use the name Larry Hayes, since that's what I told mom."

Roy shook his head and said, "Nope, you going to have to use your real name Ranma. But I'll let Lisa know to call you that if you want. So when's the big day?"

Taking the papers from his uncle Ranma asked, "Huh? What day?"

Roy smirked seeing an opening to tease his nephew and said, "You know the big day. As in when you and Commander Hayes get hitched. I mean here you are ready to use her name and all, and how many times did you crash over at her place. Come on now as your uncle it is my responsibility to give you advice in these situations."

As Ranma caught onto what his uncle was getting at he attempted to sputter out incoherent denials, unfortunately all that came out was drool from his now slack-jawed mouth.

Roy reached down and grabbed the papers away from Ranma to save them from saliva damage. After shaking off a few errant drops he said, "I was just kidding there Ranma. However, listen I need to get going, I have an appointment with the brass and it's bad news to keep them waiting. I am temporarily assigning you to black squadron until I get a chance to go over the crew rosters. Captain Davis will be by in twelve hours to pick you up for patrol. You are still going to be flying the same veritech that you have been until another one becomes available. Now I really need to get going." As he turned to run out the door he called over his shoulder, "Be sure to get some rest and something to eat, you look like hell."

---------------------

For the next several days Ranma worked himself into a routine, wake up eat, go on patrol, eat, go over the finer points of leadership with Captain Davis, do a few kata's and then provided that they weren't pulling double patrols or on alert he'd go back to his bed and sleep. During that time, he had seen neither hide nor hair from any of his family or friends, he really did not know why they were avoiding him but he figured that they were mad at him for something he said. Although Ranma was having some difficulties remembering if he truly said anything offensive but figured that, it must have slipped out or something. After all, it is not as if they were completely swamped with work.

--------------------------------------

Nodoka Saotome smiled; she had managed to finish the reconstruction of Macross city ahead of schedule. It appeared almost just like it used to back on earth, she even managed to construct a waterfront by cutting through the floor and adding a shelf that went down at a slow slope until it reached one hundred yards, where she had erected another barrier that separated the shelf from the compartment below. Then she took some of the frozen seawater from outside and placed it in the compartment, hoping that some of the fish survived being flash frozen. To give the crew better access to the town she had ordered the construction of several elevators and transit tubes, connecting the town to the farms below, the crew quarters, flight decks and factories. Her last improvement on the town was the addition of the two carrier's desalinization plants and sanitation systems.

Earlier that same day her team had finished making the repairs and replacements restoring the SDF-1's ability to fire the main gun. Therefore, with her primary objectives fulfilled she could move on to outfitting the two carriers with weapons.

-------------------------------

1- Bangkok rules, watch escape from LA if not just remember nobody draws until the can hit's the ground. While the enemy is watching the can, you pull out your weapons and blast them for being stupid. Hey, it almost sounds like a Saotome secret technique.

Speaking of witch good news- evil dead four is going to be made. It has Bruce cambell playing Bruce whom played ash, the entire plot form what I heard is frickin hilarious.

------------------ Notes if you made it down this far -----------------------

I am not sure if I should list the changes I am making so I will just name the less obscure, and they are out of order from what they were in cannon. However, hey different actions different results at different times.

1- Two ships were sent after the SDF-1, because their initial forces were completely annihilated. In cannon I think that there was still fighting going on after the fold, not sure though.

2- The main gun is repaired plus the eminent addition of more weapons. I always thought that it was stupid for the SDF-1 to rely on only one weapon and then lost its affectability until it transformed.

3- Macross city is in a different location. One that is safe from the terrors of the transformation.

4- Lisa insisted on Ranma returning to base because of damage to his veritech. In cannon, she chews out Rick for his insistence.

Those are the main ones, but as you can see, some things that happened in the original storyline now have no probability of happening, now I just have to decide on how to make it more difficult for our merry crew. Slight teaser for next chapter, Ranma dug a hole and now has to lay in it whets this he is dating Lisa but he is the girl.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to James Axelrad for proofreading for me

Notes: I am using air force/marine/army rank structure for the veritech pilots, navel for the crew of the SDF-1, and Marine for the Destroid units. Reason for doing so? In robotech they have sergeants that go and gain the rank of ensign, it doesn't make any sense to do that especially when the series show that there are colonels and generals. Also I have been reminded that the SDF-1 did indeed have secondary weapons during the final showdown. Well I was making a change, plus I think that they were silently added during the series because if they had them earlier why didn't they use them before. For example here are a few times when they could have come in handy. Because there was constant fighting on the hull of the ship as well as the times they used the Daedalus maneuver, as well as the times the spies were planted and Miriya snuck onboard. All those times there were enemies in range and yet no secondary weapons were used. But while I might upgrade the secondary weapons I was adding two extra not quite primary weapons, it'll be explained.

Oh I also made a change in plan. I know I said I'd wait to reintroduce the Nerima gang but I decided that this chapter would put events into motion.

------------------ Nerima Japan -------------------

It had been almost a full month since Ranma's apparent death on Macross Island and their had been some interesting turns of events regarding the local NWC.

Nabiki sighed as she put down her pencil; the test she had just taken was something new that UNEDF decided to do in an effort to increase recruiting into the world's armed service. It had been explained by the tester that the test is basically a skills match to gauge what jobs the testee would be most useful at. Nabiki sighed as she put her head down on her desk to wait for the testing period to end. She had been having her misgivings about the whole Macross Island decimated by a nuclear bomb act. There were just too many holes that were popping up.

She thought, "_There must be something going on here. The UNEDF has used its pull to get the Majority of Nations to lower its recruitment age to sixteen. Then they pop these job capability tests on us. If it was just a terrorist act why do they need a worldwide recruitment drive? It's not like we are under an alien invasion threat or something. According to the news the RDF only lost two carriers and the SDF-1, while that is a tragic loss, when looked at in the big picture that is only a small fraction of available forces world wide."_

"_Man I wish Ranma was still around, he sure did have a way to stir things up. Since his death the usual craziness has died down to an almost sane level. It still gets me how the amazons had been so callous upon Ranma's death. Cologne, no the old ghoul is a far more appropriate term, when she had found out she just shrugged and said, 'Oh, Well. I guess it's time to head back to the village. It is a shame though; perhaps we'll run into the Habiki bay on our way.' What shocked me the most though was Shampoo's reaction? Instead of being upset the Amazon was almost happy with the news. I could have sworn I hear something to the effect of, 'Good this way is better, at least now I don't have to worry about killing the others. Would be a shame to have to do so, it's a waste of good women.' Of course I could be wrong it was said in Mandarin and I have only been studying the language for six months or so."_

"_Ukyo had a similar reaction, when I told her the news she gave me a sad smile and left. Later I heard from Konotsu that she left to contact her father to ask what she was supposed to do now. Because without Ranma there really was no point in becoming a Saotome nor would it make any sense to kill Genma for revenge. The last thing I heard was that Ukyo had her femininity reinstated by her father and was currently opening up a new restaurant in Kyoto. Mousse and Konotsu had followed their respective women in mourning, while Konotsu seemed to be upset Mousse had been ecstatic about the unlucky twist of fate."_

"_Besides Kasumi Ryouga was the first to know, he had stumbled across Kasumi and me when we left my room to freshen up. As soon as I told him he ran off yelling something intelligible and I haven't seen nor heard from him since. Last week Akane had finally gotten past her listless stage about Ranma's death. She had cried herself to sleep for an entire week before se was able to start coping with it. That was one of the most difficult weeks I have had since mom died. Akane was so shaken up that she had literally attempted to take her own life on two occasions. It was a week after Ranma had died that I managed to get what was bothering her out of her. She told me that she was upset because her last actions towards Ranma had been violent. She said it was because she was afraid of losing him that she acted out like she had. She claimed that her own insecurities had been the real reason why Ranma was dead. I had told her that it was non-sense that Ranma wanted to go to spend time with his mother to see if he could talk her out of that stupid pledge. It was that knight that Akane truly began to allow herself to heal. Kasumi and I spent the majority of the night just watching over her."_

"_However the more things change the more stay the same. To honor Ranma and to help along Akane's recovery Kasumi and I decided to hold a small get together for Ranma's funeral, it was during this time that both Kuno's appeared. Kodachi seemed almost sane and was quite civil; she even sat down with Akane and talked for a few hours. However that was after Tachi-baka made his declaration of smiting the foul sorcerer for his sins against his fiery tigress and pig-tailed goddess. Akane had not been happy with that, nor had I for that matter. Akane and Kuno fought for a short time before Akane was able to pull off a victory, once that had been done I decided that enough was enough. So I went into the supply closet and retrieved an old ball pin hammer and I used it to shatter every finger in his right hand. I might not have been in love with Ranma, but he was almost family and I will not tolerate anyone speaking ill of them after their death."_

"_Father and the Panda's actions were actually consistent with what I had come to expect from them. Dad just started to cry about how the schools were never going to be joined. Genma just comforted my father and said that he would be willing to take on one of his daughters to produce a new heir, one that wasn't so disgustingly weak as to be killed in a nuclear explosion. That of course was not meant for my ears, seeing that the two had taken the extra effort to go into the attic to talk. But if either of them thinks that I'm just going to sit idly by while Genma attempts to bed one of my sisters, or me for that matter they sure as hell have another thing coming. After speaking with my sisters on that matter we decided that it would be best if we washed our hands of the matter and walked away, besides principal Kuno said any student that doesn't join the RDF is going to be forced into repeating their current grade. Needless to say Nerima has filled Tokyo's quota for supplying soldiers. Kasumi and Akane have decided to join the RDF, Kasumi because they offered to train her to become a field medic, which is just a step away from a nurse and Akane because she wants to get back at those terrorists that took Ranma from us. Personally I think she is joining up for the wrong reasons and I worry about her emotional state. It's too soon for her to make hasty decisions like that but she was always bullheaded all I can do is hope for the best and pray that she comes out of it alright."_

"_Kasumi and Akane leave for training next week and I have until then to make up my mind on what I am going to do. I thought it would be easy and that I had my own future planned out. I guess one of the last things in life Ranma did was to show that things don't always plan out how you want no matter how skilled you are. I just wish I could tell him that to his face. With my sisters gone I could afford to cash in our college funds and get a small apartment a district away while I finish high school. . But for some reason that just doesn't sound too appealing to me any more, while I still maintain my ice queen façade to the other students Ranma's death has helped me realize that there is more to life than ambition. And that's true friendship, even though most of Ranma's suitors left without any apparent grief I'd still like to believe that he had a few real friends out there that miss him, because I know I do. I just hope that wherever he is he knows that some of us didn't abandon him and did grieve for him."_

-------------- Nearly one month ago ------------

It was a rare occasion for one Ryouga Habiki, for one he was lost yet he knew where he was. The day for him had started out fairly well, he had finally arrived in Tokyo and it only took four hours to arrive in Nerima, of course that's when things turned south. Somehow when he had arrived in Nerima he managed to be right at the bottom of the stairs at the Tendo dojo. When he realized where he was at he wanted to jump for joy, knowing that he would be able to spend time with Akane without that womanizing jerk around to ruin everything. However instead of jumping for joy he noticed a teary eyed Kasumi and a distraught Nabiki making their way down the stairs. Somehow he knew that it was all Ranma's fault, and for once he was right.

The events that occurred next were a blur to our temporarily not physically lost boy. He remembered hearing that Ranma was dead, caught up in a nuclear explosion in a terrorist attempt to destroy the SDF-1. He wanted to laugh at that, he really did. To him Ranma was always his driving factor, a way to transcend physical limits and reach obscenely monumental heights in the sake of the art. That was over now though; his rival had been stolen away in some petty attempt at isolationism by some misguided fools who thought that if the problem isn't here any more than it's all-ok.

There is one thing many people do not understand about the lost boy, where he might be pig-headed and obsessive he does understand how the world works, partially because he spends a lot of time roaming around and meeting people. Like he knew that aliens made the SDF-1, he had somehow gotten onboard while on the way to challenge Ranma back in junior high. He also knew that whoever built that craft would return for it that was one of the main driving factors for his revenge against Ranma. After seeing a few of the skeletal corpses he knew that he had to get better. Sure the feud with Ranma had been a handy mask to use but now it was over.

Sure Ryouga was in love with Akane, but deep down he knew that she only viewed him as a friend and most likely that is all that he could ever be.

Seeing an offending looking stone in his way Ryouga attempted to take out his anger, his fears, his hate and his regret, rearing back with his foot he swept it forward only to miss. The momentum caused his whole body to become unbalanced and with a mighty thud he landed on his back. As he lay there on his back he thought to himself, "_Why did you have to go? We were the ones that were supposed to fight it out, not some stupid terrorist with a vendetta. How dare you leave me like this? Without you to test myself against how am I supposed to get stronger? You were supposed to stay here fight me, me Dammit. How can I ever hope to help defeat these giants if you aren't here to lead the charge? I might of always been second best with you around but that was a price I was willing to pay to increase our survival. Now it's too late for that, and to make it worse I never got the chance to thank you and tell you how much a friend you really were." _Climbing back to his feet Ryouga took a few steps forward and looked around, off on his left there was a sign that gave him pause he thought, "_Perhaps the last thing I learned from you Ranma was that, sometimes martial arts isn't always enough."_

Walking over to the sign, he noticed a door on its left. Using the door he walked in and said, "I want to join the RDF."

There was silence for a minute before an elderly woman walked up to him and said, "That's very honorable of you young man but this is a grocery store not a recruitment center."

Ryouga blushed and said, "Uhm, sorry bout that. Can you tell me where the closest recruitment center is?"

--------- Current time SDF-1 briefing room ---------

The past month had been rather hectic for the crew of the SDF-1; Macross city had been completely rebuilt and now was in the process of receiving several smaller additions that were meant to make the city more convenient. Not a single day went by without a group of citizens making their way up to the command deck to complain to the captain. The latest complaints had been about the noise from the construction of the new monorail that would connect the city and the rest of the ship, making it easier for staff to get where they needed to be. Today's meeting was going to cover the issue of constant construction in the city as well as a few other issues that had been grating on Captain Gloval's nerves.

At the head of the long table sat Captain Gloval, starting at his right sat Lt. Commander Lisa Hayes, Lt. Commander Claudia Grant the ships 2'nd officer, at the other end of the table sat colonel Maistroff, continuing on there was Dr. Lang and Major Roy Fokker the CAG of the SDF-1's veritech squadrons.

Seeing that everyone was there Captain Gloval called the meeting to order and said, "We are here today to discuss a few going ons that are taking place and to decide what we are going to do about it. Also I want to hear any suggestions and concerns you might have. Lastly we are going to be setting course back to earth, we have waited long enough to get the repairs and refits in order. I fear that if we dally too long we might not have an earth to return to."

Clearing his throat he then said, "Now for our first order of business, Lisa if you would."

"Ahem, yes sir, thank you sir. As you all know Macross city has been completely rebuilt and is now in the process of receiving several additions that have made the population uneasy. This mostly concerns the engineering staff. The bridge has been swamped with complaints for the past week, ranging from loud noise levels at night to construction interfering with the local population. Mostly they are about the construction of the monorail and new military barracks being put up. The civilian populace are unwilling participants in this war, and we need to come up with a solution to make them more comfortable."

Dr, Lang shifter nervously in his seat, he knew that these complaints were directed at him. Finding his voice he said, "Yes, well I was not aware of their feelings on the matter. However we need the barracks and monorail for the crew so I really don't have much of a choice in the matter. I guess I can limit the hours spent on construction and come up with a timetable that would be more satisfactory but the longer it takes the longer we will have troops sleeping on cots in one of the empty rooms. As of today by our current schedule these issues would be resolved within the next two days seeing that we are nearing completion of both projects. Any other projects that we may have that involve Macross City will be taken up with the mayor's office to find suitable times for the construction."

Seeing that that issue was as resolved as it was going to be Captain Gloval said, "Very well. Now next on the agenda concerns the alien craft that we are still attached to. Originally we acquired it for parts to replace what we had lost during the fold operation, seeing that I have been informed that all refits and repairs have been completed, I wish to know why we are still dragging it around."

Dr. Lang shifted in his seat once more and replied, "Ah, well you see that has directly to do with a few minor projects that I have going on. As you know we have already added two main guns to the ship, one attached to each of the carriers. We did that to give ourselves a little extra firepower after our limited scans revealed the size of the alien force. On a side note, you should know that after spending some time on the cruisers bridge we were able to translate and figure out a few more systems. This information revealed that there are roughly one million ships out there either sitting in orbit around earth's moon or actively searching for us. These systems have helped us find similar systems onboard however; it appears that our systems are damaged and not compatible with those on the cruiser. We have been working at adapting this technology but it is slow going and so far our best plans are to replace the Cat's eye's using this technology. "

"That is also one of the reasons why we are still docked. To better incorporate this technology we have started the production of two new prototypes. There are fashioned after stealth aircraft and outfitted with enough firepower to match skull squadron, when completed we hope to have two ships capable of long range recon with the ability to carry six to seven veritechs as part of an advance scouting party. Due to the size and the fact that we are using the material from the hull of the cruiser for the hull of the prototype it was decided that we would build them on board the alien craft and move them once completed."

"And that brings me to one of the other reasons why we are still attached to the cruiser. We were amazed by the alien hull's ability to reform itself that my staff and I thought it required a more in depth study. We were so amazed by the properties of this material and the implications that we have been stripping the hull as fast as we can. I realize that we need to start back to earth soon and if it wasn't for the fact that I still can't figure out what happened when we folded I would suggest that, so we could take the ship with us. However, I am reluctant to suggest using the Fold and just request two to three more weeks so we can finish up our current projects."

Captain Gloval sighed and said, "Very well, I realize the important implications that these projects can bring forward, so I'll allow it, I will give you three weeks to complete your work. Know this though, if at the end of the three weeks you are not ready you are to take all your projects and whatever resources you have and transfer them over to the SDF-1 completed or not. Agreed?"

"Yes, Captain."

Captain Gloval made another check mark on his list and said, "Ok, now I believe Major Fokker has a concern."

Roy smiled at the assembled group, brass meetings always made him uncomfortable. Clearing his dry throat he said, "My squadrons are still not up to full strength, we currently need fifteen more veritechs to fill the ranks and that doesn't include six pilots left over from the last flight school class before the fold, nor does that include the twenty people currently in flight school to bolster our numbers. Also I have one pilot that is still flying a TR model; while he can pilot it effectively he would be better off in a model that carries more munitions. It should be noted that this pilot is currently leading in enemy kills, and if he can do that in a training model just imagine what he can do in a standard veritech."

That said Roy looked around to see the various expressions of the command staff, reactions varied, Lisa and Claudia already knew so there was no look of surprise there, although Lisa was now wearing a slight smile. Captain Gloval looked thoughtful and Colonel Maistroff just looked grumpy. Dr. Lang was also wearing a thoughtful expression but underneath it Roy could see something almost maniacal.

Dr. Lang shook his head in attempt to rid it of the sudden impulse to experiment on the pilot, knowing that the pilot's mother might have something to say about it. Oh he was aware of Ranma's situation in fact he had been the one to order surveillance on the Tendo household, he had felt it necessary in order to get Nodoka to come with him. Pushing his darker thoughts to the side he said, "Ah yes, I have heard about that pilot. Major, I assure you that more veritechs are on the way and I am sorry for the delay but it was necessary. After finding out about the regenerative abilities of the alien vessel, my staff and I decided to see if we could apply the same thing to a Veritech along with a few upgrades."

"We have stopped production temporarily on the older versions in order to build this new model that will be ready for testing later today. If all goes well we will begin streamlining the new model into production, unfortunately we only have enough of the hull material for fifteen or so Veritechs. The new model is faster and more agile than its predecessors and carries a larger armament, this includes the new GU-12 series, and it is just as large as the 11 but holds up to twice the amount of ammunition. This is possible due to the smaller size and higher yield of the weapons projectile; it shoots a small reflex bullet. Also incorporated into the Veritech, the x2-model if you would is a new version of the sidewinder missile, this missile is smaller but also carries a larger yield due because like the GU-12 rounds it holds a small amount of reflex energy."

"My staff has already taken the liberty of painting the new veritech in your colors, seeing that as CAG you would want to test out the new design to ensure the safety of your men. Later today a maintenance team will be by to find out where you are sending your former Veritech so that we can replace the color scheme."

Roy nodded and said, "Very well, I wish you would have told me before hand, that bird has been awfully good to me and I do hate to let it go. So if everything goes well how long before you begin to streamline the x2-model?"

Dr. Land sighed and said, "Well, it depends, during the testing phase I was planning to revert the Veritech factory back into producing the older models, but giving them the weapon upgrades seeing that we have tested them in the labs and they will work. That should take three or four day's to complete the change over, then it is just a matter of time until you view the X- model as satisfactory. Once that happens give us another three two four days to revert the production line add to that two weeks to pump out the Veritechs."

Roy nodded and was about to ask another question when Captain Gloval cut him off.

"Doctor, are you intending to refit the Veritechs currently in service?"

"Yea captain, that was also on the list but it won't be handled by my teams directly because the switch out is easy enough that the flight crew should be able to handle it."

Finding the answer satisfactory Captain Gloval asked, "I also get from what your saying is that in order to make more X2-models you need more of the Hull material from the alien ship?"

"Yes Captain, that is correct. Currently we have ten destriods assisting us."

Fingering his pipe he asked, "Would it be safe to assume that if you had more Destroids you would be able to acquire more of this material?"

"Yes Captain you would be correct in that assumption."

"Very well, Colonel Maistroff you are to work along with Dr. Lang in coordinating the gathering of this material."

Colonel Maistroff didn't like this situation one bit. He felt that Captain Gloval was overstepping his bounds and that they really needed to head back to earth. Plus he was getting tired of his forces being used as two bit laborers. Deciding to make his opinion known he said, "Captain, I must protest, we should be heading back to earth immediately, we have wasted enough time sitting here twiddling our thumbs. Further more the squadrons that were formally based out of the Prometheus and Daedalus should be transferred over to my command as well. With all due respect to Major Fokker he is only a Major and as such should not be responsible for a force as large as what he has."

Roy wanted to stand up and belt the stuffy colonel one but was held in check by the knowledge of what would happen if he did so.

Sensing the volatile situation of the room Captain Gloval said, "Colonel, while I agree that we need to return to earth as soon as possible, I can not ignore the progress that DR. Lang and his teams are making. Plus we are using the meantime to train this crew, which I might remind you is basically filled with raw recruits, being so raw they need all the experience that they can get before going off into battle. As for Major Fokker, it is true that he has been given a lot of responsibility but he has been doing an outstanding job. I was going to let this wait until I could do this formally in front of the crew but I guess I can do it informally now."

Turning his gaze to Roy he said, "Major Roy Fokker, for your actions earlier this month in success in taking the alien vessel, I hear by promote you to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, with all the benefits and responsibilities that coincide with said rank. I do this with the authority of the U.N. Spacey as the highest-ranking person onboard this ship. Congratulations Colonel."

Captain Gloval leaned back in his seat considering the matter closed, but Colonel Maistroff had another opinion. He sputtered out, "Bbbut, you can't do that sir, you don't have the authority. Besides how can Dr. Lang be making that much progress when he has so much on his plate? Furthermore, what about the upgrades that my Destroid units are supposed to be receiving?"

Captain Gloval narrowed his eyes at the colonel and said, "I am captain of this ship, plus I am the only officer at fleet level (Not sure if that's what it's called but basically he is talking about being the only officer of command rank witch includes generals (army, air force, marines, and navy captain and above.) So Colonel you would be wise to reconsider yourself. As far as the promised upgrades, Dr. Lang will have to answer that."

Sensing the tension in the room Dr. Lang held up his hand and said, "Colonel, the upgrades to your units will be completed on schedule. As far as how I am able to get things done well there are a number of factors at play. One is that I have an outstanding second in command in engineering that has an eye for organization and special projects. Infact several of the new upgrades were her idea. Secondly, I have two entire battalions of engineers, whom were as we all know taken with us during the fold. With so much extra help I am able to complete several projects at the same time while not running my crews completely ragged. Finally I owe you and your men a thanks seeing that much of the work would have taken much longer if we would not have had the Destroids at our disposal."

Seeing that the Captain was in no mood for his shenanigans Colonel Maistroff wisely quieted himself in an effort to save face.

Captain Gloval seeing that everything had been covered said, "Well, that's it, unless anyone else has anything to add."

Claudia Grant had been silent during the entire meeting, being the second officer she really did not have much to say, however that is not to say that there was nothing she had to mention. Clearing her throat she said, "Captain, I was going to bring this up before the meeting but I was unable to get the opportunity I'll do it now. This morning the Mayor of Macross city contacted the bridge and told me that the town council was planning to hold the Miss Macross contest in one month. The council decided that it might help the military civilian relationship if they were to extend the offer to compete to military personnel."

After mulling the idea through his head Captain Gloval said, "Lisa, have a memorandum passed out giving permission to any crew member that might want to contend as well as ensuring that if they do so they would be excused from their duties while preparing for the pageant." Seeing that Commander Hayes was finished writing it down he then said, "Now I believe that that's all for the moment, I think that there is work that needs to get done." Seeing everyone rise and make his or her way over to the door captain Gloval called out, "Colonel Fokker, a word with you."

Turning around in the now almost empty room, (excluding himself and the captain.) he asked, "Sir, did you need something?"

"Yes Colonel, I discovered a few technicalities in the squadron rosters."

"Sir, I wasn't aware that there were any Technicalities, I look into that immediately."

"No, that's not necessary, as captain it is my duty to know everything that happens onboard this ship. It took a little digging but I was quite shocked to say the least."

Not knowing what the captain was talking about Roy gulped nervously and asked, "Sir, if there is something wrong I will take care of it ASAP."

Motioning for the Colonel to sit he said, "That's not necessary; these discrepancies are allowable given the current situation."

"Sir, if I might ask? Just what exactly are these discrepancies?"

"Well, they go by the name's Ranma Saotome, your nephew, Larry Hayes, a distant relation to Commander Hayes, Ranko Tendo, a young woman whom looks very similar to DR. Saotome."

Sweating nervously Roy said, "Sir, I can explain."

"Oh I have no doubt that you can however, being captain I am privy to the same information that you have been made aware of. So I am aware of the individual's true identity. No the reason I asked you to stay behind was that I am curious about something. Take in mind that I have the utmost confidence in your ability to do your job however that said I was wondering why you chose not to offer the promotion to first Lieutenant to Lt. Saotome? Because if you are afraid that you are showing favoritism by promoting your nephew off the bat, the order came from me so that should clear you of any misconceptions."

Roy sank down into his seat and said, "No that's not it sir. Even if it was the case Ranma has many pilots several seasoned veterans whom look up to him for his skills. Infact the rumor going round is that I am dissatisfied with him because I posted him to black squadron instead of my own."

"Obviously there is something going on here, would you mind going into a little more detail?"

Roy sighed and said, "Well, if you're asking me if I am disappointed in my nephew than no I am not. He has been doing an outstanding job where he is at. The reason why I have chosen not to promote him right off the bat, even though he does deserve it is because of other mitigating circumstances. Some of which I feel are personal to his situation. As for why he is in Black squadron and not my own that has to do with his person situation as well. What I can tell you about it is that, Ranma isn't even seventeen and he came here from a not so great situation and I am worried about piling up too many responsibilities on him before he's ready. Captain Davis has taken him in hand and has worked with him closely for the past month. When Captain Davis and I are satisfied with his progress is when I was going to promote him"

Captain Gloval nodded at Roy and said, "Very well. I want you to know that it was not my intent to be nosey. But I want what's best for this ship and have taken notice of Lt. Saotome's exceptionable skills. If you feel that he's not ready that is good enough for me, I have faith in your judgment. I am sorry for any unease that I might have put you through but I wanted to know if there was a problem. That's all Colonel. Oh and Colonel perhaps, you should take a day off and spend some time with your sister and Nephew."

Taking the hint Roy snapped up and said, "Sir, I'll do so. Good day sir."

Roy walked over to the door in thought, "_Perhaps it is time to take a day off. I have been constantly busy with training new pilots and shuffling the rosters around. Captain Davis told me yesterday that he was worried about Ranma. That he seemed to be withdrawing into a shell around the other pilots. The only friend besides Lisa that Ranma has is Lt. Mitchell and they really don't spend a lot of time together. Maybe I should post Lt. Mitchell to Black squadron. Yeah that should help; maybe I should introduce Ranma to a few people. He'd probably get along fairly well with Rick too. The only thing is that Rick won't be finished with flight school for another two weeks. Well maybe we can make some progress with Ranma if I talk to Lisa and Claudia they can probably help me come up with a plan."_

"_Damm, I have a lot of crap to take care of, I nearly forgot about the new Veritech I need to test out. If all goes well with that maybe I can get Dr. Lang to make a three more models before he changes over the factory. Ok first things first, I need to call up Doctor Lang and tell him that I'll begin testing out the new model tomorrow, as well as ask him to make a few more X-models before changing over. Then I need to contact Lisa and Claudia and see about helping Ranma some. Then I should probably call sis and let her know that I have been promoted, she'll probably want to throw a party knowing her. Hey that might actually work tonight I'll have a nice get together with my family and then tomorrow I'll pull Rick out of class and throw another party during witch I'll introduce Ranma to Rick, so he'll have somebody else to talk to. It's perfect."_

Roy was cut out of his musings as he turned a corner, bumping into someone he heard, "Oh Colonel, your so forward. What would the rest of the crew think if they saw you cradling me in your arms?"

Roy blinked and replied, "They'd probably Mutiny on the fact that I am seducing the sexiest woman on the ship." In the background Roy heard someone groan and say, "OH, Brother." Turning his attention to the damsel in his arms he said, "Say I just had the most brilliant idea."

"Oh, I trust you didn't strain yourself too hard?"

"Now Lisa, that wasn't a very nice thing to say to the Colonel. Besides he's not drooling with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth, and that's the sign I usually see when he is straining himself."

Lisa snorted and said, "As much as what you two go at it. Please tell me another one."

Taking the opportunity to steer the conversation his way Roy said, "Ok, well you see, Claudia does this thing with her tongue… oomph. Hey what was that for? She asked for another one."

Rubbing her now slightly sore elbow Claudia said, "Dear, she was being sarcastic, anyway you should never go around revealing a woman's secrets. If Lisa wants to know, I'll gladly tell her later."

Lisa shook her head and said, "No thanks, I actually only stayed behind to congratulate you on your promotion, and if you knew where Ranma was billeted at?"

Claudia giggled and asked, "Are you sure that you don't want to know that little trick I know it drives Roy crazy."

Lisa shook her head in denial and said, "Claudia you know it's not like that. Ranma and I are just friends, it's just I only see him when he comes over the comm. and he never really say's that much. I'm just worried about him, besides you know I'm not over Karl yet."

Taking the opportunity to speak Roy said, "Well about that, it's lucky that I ran into you two now. I was thinking that perhaps we should celebrate tonight. You know, figured that we could start the night off at maybe the White Dragon, I heard that it reopened last week. It'll be you ladies, Ranma, Nodoka and I."

Claudia shifted away from Roy and said, "Oh, I don't know. I mean with all those people around how am I going to congratulate you properly. Hmm yes, that could work. Afterwards I think we will have to hold a more intimate party. In the meantime I think Lisa and I need to do some shopping."

Roy managed to steal a quick kiss before the two women ran off. Deciding that that was taken care of he went back to his office to call down to get a hold of his sister.

----------------- With Ranma -------

So far it had been a fairly boring month for Ranma, well that is if you don't include the alien attack and the events afterward. Since that day Ranma had found himself in a routine. The monotony of the routine combined with the fact that he had not seen much of his family and friends. Sure he ran into his uncle every now and then. Lisa appeared on his screen whenever he was doing patrol. Other than that, he hadn't heard anything from them. These factors were combining with the already unstable factors that Ranma had to deal with. He felt that his Uncle wanted nothing really to do with him after he discovered how efficient he is at killing, after all who would want to hang around with a monster. That feeling was compounded once Ranma found out that all the other pilots are staying at barracks and not isolated off in some corner like a piece of furniture nobody wants people to see. He could feel the waves of disappointment riding off of his mother, and that was just based on the several hours they had spent together in a veritech. He felt that to tell her now might invite a very temping offer to his plate. One that even in the darkest corners of his mind he feared to give it a voice. Then there was Claudia, he had thought she actually liked him, but in his recent line of thinking she was only being nice to him for his Uncles sake. After all who would want to associate with a gender-changing freak whose only skills were killing and martial arts. But try as he might he could not bring himself to blame them.

His thoughts on Lisa however were on the fence; she had not shunned him like the others but had not visited him either. He felt that since she was the XO she had to know her way around the ship, but was not visiting him because she was angry with him for something he said. He wasn't sure what he could of said, he had been working on keeping his speech proper and speaking the military way but it had to have been something. Besides he had done it often enough in Nerima and that was pretty much how the other girls acted towards him. So he figured, whatever he said had been insulting but not enough to get him hit over.

The only other person Ranma really knew on the ship besides Captain Davis, who seemed nice enough but always gave him some distance, was Lt. Mitchell. Ranma usually runs into him after his patrols, when Lt. Mitchell is busy running errands for his Uncle. On more than one occasion Gary had invited him along to go into town or off to the barracks to play cards. Every now and then though, Gary would show up at his room just to hang out for a bit. On Gary's second such visit Ranma had accidentally revealed his curse to the man.

----- Flashback ------

Ranma had taken to spending the majority of his time when alone as female. He didn't so much decide this; it just somehow ended up as a pattern. Perhaps he felt strained from Holding on to the soul of ice for extended periods, or maybe it was just because in his female form he was allowed to temporarily escape from his expectations. Because Ranko Tendo had no responsibilities, was not a merciless killer, didn't have to worry about committing ritual suicide because of her stupid father. No as Ranko Tendo she had none of those worries, just a slight allergy to hot water that was quickly remedied with soap.

Currently she had cleared out a large section of her room and was busy running through a few Kata's to find her ever-elusive center. In the middle of a flip she heard the door chime. Without even looking she called out, "It's open come on in."

"Hey Ranma, just came by to… Wooh, who are you and where have you been all my life?"

Ranma not really catching on to the pick up line was still engrossed in her Kata. As she did another spin kick she said, "You know Damm well who I am, Gary."

Lt. Mitchell stood there for a minute in silence attempting to figure out where he knew this girl from. Coming up with nothing he said, "Well, anyway I just stopped by to see Ranma. I guess he isn't in, so I'll come back later."

Landing after performing a flip Ranma spun to face the lieutenant and said, "What are you talking about? I'm right here."

Gary squinted his eyes as he looked closely at the redhead. Noticing a slight resemblance to Ranma he asked, "So you're Ranma's sister? I swear I'd remember if I met you before."

Some people might say that Ranma can be fairly dense or oblivious; well it is possible that they might be right. However in this case Ranma had failed to notice his form because she had been too distracted by her own internal demons. That said, Ranma stood there blankly for a minute before something registered. Her shoulders slumped and she said, "I'm sorry, I forgot you didn't know. I'm Ranma, I have a curse, hot water changes me back to normal."

Gary stood there silent for a second before he shrugged and said, "Ok, I'll buy that."

Ranma blinked and asked, "What? How? I didn't even change in front of you yet."

Gary shrugged and said, "Well, I am familiar with curses. See before I was born my mother was turned into a newt."

Ranma was still blinking, seeing a response not forthcoming Gary added, "Well she did get better. Turns out this old Chinese goat neighbor of hers decided to pull a prank on her. I think he used something called instant something or another. Came In a little packet from some Chinese company, I don't remember the name but oh well." Seeing that Ranma was still frozen in place Gary walked over to the couch and sat down. After making himself comfortable he said, "Now I believe you said something about changing. I might not be into the whole strip club idea but private sessions are all right, if you get what I mean. this coffee table here should make a decent stage."

Coming out of her stupor Ranma asked, "What now?"

"You said you were going to strip for me, and I said ok just make it quick and don't expect any tips because I'm broke."

Ranma wanted to snap but was reluctant to have someone else dislike her because of her affinity to violence. Instead she said, "No thanks, don't like guys that way."

Gary shrugged in his seat and said, "Figures, a body like that wasted for the other team. Well I was only joking with you anyway. Now for why I am here, me and some of the guy's were wanting to know if you wanted to head into town for a drink?"

Ranma stood there silently and thought, "_He said he was just joking with me, I think I believe that. It was nothing at all like what Hiro and Dia used to ask me but with them I knew they were serious. He knows about the curse and doesn't want to date me or kill me? That's a first. Plus he still wants me to go out wit him and the other pilots. He could be trying to catch me with my guard down but I don't think so. Is he really trying to be friendly? Ahh, I just don't know anymore."_

Her mind was telling her to go and that he was just being friendly but Ranma was having difficulties with accepting that anybody would want to be around her without an ulterior motive. Deciding that she had to think about it more she said, "Naw, thanks anyway but I'm just going to do a few Katas and go to bed."

Gary stood up from his seat and made his way over to the door, taking one last look at the redhead he said, "You know Ranma, it's not healthy to isolate yourself like this. You need to get out some and relax. As my mom used to always say, "Live today, for tomorrow you might die." Although she probably stole it from someone else." Turning to go he shot over his shoulder, "Just think about what I said, you do have friends here."

_----- End flashback --------_

After that Ranma had been visited by Lt. Mitchell several times, during such occasions Gary would attempt to get Ranma to open up a little more. So far he had succeeded to a point. Gary had even managed to get some of the story out of Ranma, including; how he got the curse, the reason as to why he was hiding it from his mother as well as several other minor details. However in all that time Ranma held back any information on martial arts battles and his own experiences in combat not wanting to disgust his fellow pilot with the cold hard reality of just how effective of a killing machine he is.

Today in Ranma's book was a special occasion of a sort; it was the first time that Ranma had left the general vicinity of the launch bays. However not wanting to risk running into his mother Ranma had opted to go as a girl, she was wearing blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Gary and Ranma had been walking around for fifteen minutes when they had come across a group of pilots. They immediately asked Gary to join them; Ranma had just shrugged and told him to go with them. The other pilots had hooted and hollered at Ranma thinking that she was just another jet jockey groupie, but she was able to shrug it off while Gary explained that they were just friends.

Now Ranma was walking silently through the streets of Macross city by herself, she was amazed on how closely the city resembled itself back on earth. After walking aimlessly for fifteen minutes Ranma found herself at the oceanfront, standing in front of a rather nice looking beach. Off in the distance she could hear birds chirping, that mixed in with the scent of salt water had a rather relaxing effect on her. She sat there for some time enjoying the general ambiance of the area, every now and then though she would see couples walking hand in hand reminding her of how alone she truly was. She was about to leave the area when she heard a surprised squeal and her name shouted out. Turning her head to the squeal she saw her mother running towards her. Pasting on a smile she said, "Auntie, it's been so long I was worried about you."

-- A few moments earlier ---------

Nodoka was walking through the streets of Macross city looking for her errant son/daughter, Roy had called her up and told her about the little get together he had planned but had also mentioned that he couldn't find Ranma anywhere. Hearing Ranma's name brought a momentary lapse of panic in to her heart. She had not spoken to him or rather her in almost a month. It was not that she didn't care but that the rebuilding effort and various other tasks she had to do took a momentary precedence over her family. It was war and certain sacrifices had to be made, she only hoped that Ranma could understand it. That is if she ever found him/her, so far she had checked the few parks, two restaurants, and four bars. That is not to say that there were not any others to check it's just of those available they served foods she felt Ranma would most likely eat. She was about to give up hope when she wandered across the waterfront and saw her missing child, shouting out, "Ranko." She ran over to envelope the girl in a motherly hug.

---- Presently ---

Ranma returned the hug as warmly as she could before withdrawing away. Sensing that something was wrong Nodoka asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Ranma smiled and said, "No, of course not Auntie I am happy to see you."

Nodoka frowned slightly but it was not enough to alert Ranma, leading Ranma back over to her previously vacated bench Nodoka took the smaller girl's hands and asked, "How have you been holding up?"

Ranma shrugged, she knew she wasn't completely fine but did not want to bother her mother with any details, besides the majority of her problems had to do with the body she was wearing.

Seeing that an answer wasn't forthcoming Nodoka tried again and asked, "So where are you staying? I do hope it's better than what I have. Until the new barracks are finished I have a cot in a small office."

Ranma shrugged and said, "I got a room over by the flight deck."

Nodoka frowned knowing the area that Ranma was talking about. She asked, "That's awfully out of the way. Do you have any neighbors?"

Ranma shrugged again and said, "Naw, it's better this way. I get a lot of peace and quiet, plenty of time to meditate. Plenty of space for my Kata's too, figure it's good for the whole peace of mind and body thing."

"Is there something wrong? If it's about not seeing me for so long, it's not that I didn't want to, I just had a lot of work to take care of and this is my first break in a very long time. Roy assured me that you were being taken care of."

Tired of shrugging Ranma withdrew her hands from her mothers and said, "No, nothings wrong. I know you have responsibilities to the ship. And Uncle Roy has been taking care of me, making sure I get what I need."

Deciding to take a different approach with her stubborn child she said, "You know down in engineering on my team I have a former Amazon."

Ranma muttered, "Thanks for the info, remind me not to challenge her."

"What was that dear?"

"Uhm, nothing Auntie."

Knowing that her child was being stubborn she continued, "Anyway this woman, Lo Xian is her name, well her aunt knew of this technique called the soul of ice. From what I understand it is a very dangerous technique, it causes the person who uses it to slowly become dependant on it to function in stressful situations. This stress continues to build up until one day the person snaps. Lo Xian's family left the amazons after finding this out; unfortunately it was too late for her aunt as she committed suicide. Now from what I understand there are two parts to the technique. The first part is the soul of ice but then there is a second part called, the soul of reflection. The soul of reflection is supposed to be taught before the soul of ice but the majority of elders scoff at the technique saying that it only makes the Amazon weaker by embracing it after performing the soul of ice. Lo Xian said that, elder Cologne I think her name was, doesn't teach it because she believes in order for an Amazon to rise to greatness they can't be handicapped with contemplating everything that they do. Lo Xian went on to say that ultimately the soul of ice will attempt to force you into the soul of reflection and the more you fight it the harder it becomes to deal with, eventually leading to your self destruction."

Ranma shrugged to herself once more and thought, "_Yeah right, like some technique is going to destroy me. Lo Xian's mother probably wasn't even half the martial artist that I was." _Somehow even to herself the words seemed hollow and forced. Deciding to avoid the subject she said, "Well I don't know the technique, but I am sure Ranma does and there is no way that he would fall victim to that, after all when it matters Ranma Saotome never loses."

Deciding that she was not going to get anywhere with her child she switched the conversation again and said, "You know I went on a dangerous mission to capture a enemy ship."

Ranma nodded and said, "Yeah, I heard about that, the stupid pilot nearly got you killed all because he was impatient."

Nodoka sighed and thought, "_There is definably something wrong here. I may have been cheated out of the majority of Ranma's life but I can tell whether or not she is telling the truth. Can she really be that upset with herself over what happened almost a month ago? Afterwards even Roy said she did do the right thing. If we had waited on reinforcements that could of given time for the aliens to gather a sufficient force to counter attack. There were too many lives on the line, surely she sees that."_ Deciding to test the waters Nodoka said, "You shouldn't judge him too harshly, he did what was necessary and countless lives were saved by his actions."

Ranma snorted and said, "Maybe, but he probably wasn't thinking and rushed into it."

Nodoka sighed and said, "Perhaps, but sometimes that is needed." Nodoka attempted to put her arm around the younger girl but was slightly taken aback when she noticed a flinch thinking, "_This isn't good, what could be bothering you?"_ Changing her approach once more she said, "Dear, what do you think about him?"

Ranma snorted and said, "He's just some stupid jet jockey good at blasting aliens."

"So you know him personally?"

Ranma replied, "Err, yeah kinda, we've met."

"Is that what you truly think about him?"

Not really sure of herself at the moment Ranma said meekly, "I don't know? I think so."

Nodoka attempted to give Ranma her most endearing smile and said, "I think that if you gave him half the chance, you'd probably like him a lot more than you think. I know from what I saw of him I sure do and would certainly love to get to know him better."

Several thoughts started racing through Ranma's mind. "_Why would she care whether or not I like him, she doesn't know about the curse does she? I don't see why she'd want to get to know him either. I need to know something." _Clearing her throat she nervously asked, "So Auntie did you get a good look at him?"

Nodoka was not sure on how to answer that Ranma was asking if she had gotten a good look at him and technically no, she had only seen him in the flesh a few times and every time was brief. Even though she had shared the same veritech with him he wore a Helmut. Deciding to just speak a variation of the truth she said, "No, I didn't. We were separated by a cockpit the entire time and the few times I saw him outside of the veritech he was wearing a helmet that kept his face hidden."

Ranma sighed internally, it was clear to her now. Her mother wanting her to get to know this pilot better, and wanting her to give him a chance. Her mother wanted her to date this man, not sure on how to proceed she was about to ask something when her mother saved her and said, "You know dear, tonight we are going to have diner at the White Dragon to celebrate Roy's promotion to Major. You are invited; in fact Roy and I have been searching all over for you. I was thinking though, I would very much like to see that young man again, perhaps if you run into him he could meet us at the restaurant."

Ranma forced herself to smile and said, "Sure aunty, if I run into him I'll bring him by."

Nodoka sighed in defeat she was trying everything she could think of short of directly telling her she knew and it wasn't working. Giving up for the moment she said, "Dear I need to run back to engineering for an hour or so but promise me that you'll meet up with us at the white dragon at eight."

Ranma sighed and said, "Sure Auntie, I'll be there." Pausing for a minute she added, "It was good seeing you again."

As they stood up Nodoka enveloped her child in a hug and said, "I just want you to know that I love you and that whatever is bothering you, you can come and talk to me about it. I'm sorry that I've been so busy but I had duties to the ship that couldn't be ignored."

Ranma returned the hug awkwardly and said, "It's ok Auntie, I understand."

Nodoka gave the redhead one last squeeze before parting ways. As she walked of her mind was filled with determination, tonight come hell or high water she would have her son back even if she had to dunk him in a vat full of boiling water. She knew that it was necessary because Ranma was starting to not look so well, her skin had paled slightly, her eyes were bloodshot and she even seemed to have lost some weight.

Ranma sighed as she slumped back into the bench and thought, "_Why can't things ever go my way for once? What am I supposed to do now? She wants to meet me in male form, except she doesn't know that it's me. Could she really not hold my actions on the cruiser against me? This is just too confusing. I mean she was telling me that she liked him and that I would too, what's that supposed to mean anyway? Does she expect me to date him? I don't understand why she was defending him though; surely she can see how much of a ruthless monster I am? I think I understand it now, she doesn't know it's me so she doesn't know about me just being a weapon, taken out only when they need me and kept away from anybody I might hurt. So what should I do? If I go in male form, she'll be upset that I didn't come, but if I go as Ranko then she might be upset with me because I couldn't find her mystery pilot. Somehow disappointing one of the last people that care about me even if they don't know the truth doesn't sound so good."_

"_But what can I do? I can't be in two places at once. Well she did say that she didn't get a good look at him so maybe I can get someone to pretend to be him. I could probably get Gary to do it, but I have no idea where he is."_

Sighing once more Ranma rose to her feet and muttered, "Might as well go look for him." That said she scurried off in search of her friend. For the next hour Ranma searched every bar, restaurant and alleyway for Lt. Mitchell with no luck. She was about to just give up and resigned herself to disappointing her mother once again when she heard her name being called. Turning around she was slightly surprised to see Lisa and Claudia leaving a clothing store.

Unsure of what to expect she warily approached the duo.

Lisa and Claudia had just gotten off duty; currently Lisa was tagging along while Claudia was shopping for a special surprise for Roy. She had been bored and was instantly thankful that a distraction had managed to find her. Calling out, "Ranma." She started to make her way over to the redhead. She was puzzled by the way Ranma seemed to be approaching them, taking a few more steps closer she said, "Ranma, is there something wrong?"

Ranma grumbled something, not hearing what it was Lisa asked, "What was that?"

Ranma shook her head not really knowing where she stood with Lisa and said, "Oh, nothing. It's just everybody seems to think that there's something wrong with me." Ranma then slumped slightly as her fears about her so-called Auntie Claudia were confirmed.

Lisa turned her head to ask Claudia something but noticed that she was now alone with Ranma. Turning around in search of her friend she saw Claudia waving at her and making several shooing gestures with her hands. Reverting her attention back to Ranma she said, "Well, after I called out to you, you started walking this way like you were being led off to your execution. Plus you look like you haven't slept in a week."

Ranma shrugged and muttered, "Thought you were mad at me for something I said."

Lisa grabbed the girl's arm and started to pull her down the street away from the stores and said, "Non-sense, I haven't seen you in a month, why would I be mad at you."

Not wanting to get into any conversations about herself, Ranma changed the subject and asked, "So, Lisa how's every thing been going?"

Lisa sighed at Ranma's poor attempt to steer conversation away from herself but decided that she would give her some space and not inquire as to what was really bugging her. Leading the girl over to a nearby empty bench she said, "Well it's been really hectic, I'm actually kept really busy dealing with everything. Ah but the life of the Second officer is fraught with peril."

Ranma snorted at Lisa's joke.

Deciding to tease Ranma a little, she asked in mock hurt, "What, you don't believe me?"

Ranma, not knowing that Lisa was teasing her let her shoulders slump as she thought, "_I am such a heel, here Lisa is being nice to me and I had to go call her a lair. Maybe I shouldn't have any friends, that way I won't have to hurt them like a stupid jerk."_

Ranma's reaction was not quite what Lisa had been expecting, usually Ranma would sputter denials and was generally good-natured after finding out that she was being teased. Knowing that something was wrong Lisa grabbed the younger girls arm and said, "I was just playing with you Ranma. Now come on, I heard that they just reopened this arcade.

Ranma allowed herself to be drug off but was curious about something so she asked, "I didn't know you liked to play games?" Truth be known video games were not really Ranma's cup of tea either, due to not having a lot of experience with them.

Lisa shook her head and said, "I don't, but this place has bumper cars, go-karts, mini golf, a driving range, paint ball, pool tables, as well as video games. I figure that with so much to do under one roof we can both find something fun to do together."

The next few hours went by as a blur for Ranma, she was able to put aside her troubles and actually relax and have fun. (Author says to pause reading, pop in Naked Gun and watch scene of frank and Jane having fun for the day, use visualization and put Ranma and Lisa there instead. Oh and Ranma is still in girl form. I said the scene for having fun not the one where they are wearing the body condoms. Ok that looked like fun too but you know the one I mean. ) Unfortunately all good things must end and at seven o'clock Lisa had to get going.

"Well Ranma, I guess this is it until eight, you're coming to dinner, right?"

Ranma nodded and said, "Yeah, I'll be there." Then a thought came to Ranma, reminding her of what she was doing before she ran into Lisa. She then swore a few times alerting Lisa.

"Hey Ranma, What's wrong?"

Ranma sighed and said, "Mom wanted to meet Larry tonight. I was out looking for a friend to see if he would be willing to pretend to be him, but I kind of got distracted."

Lisa sighed and said, "Ranma, you should just tell her. I am sure she's not going to enforce the contract, I mean come on we are in the middle of a war. Not only that but we are not in Japan and such an act is not legal here. She might be shocked at first but I am certain that she would understand. Besides, how could she not like you, you are honorable, brave and have even managed to save countless lives."

Ranma's posture drooped as the previous several hours of fun and relaxation were washed away. Not wanting to get into it but conflicted in wanting her friend to know what was wrong Ranma sighed and said, "Yeah, I'm sure she'll understand. Understand that her son is a coward and has been hiding from her in fear. Understand that her manly son turns into a gorgeous girl…."

Lisa brought the redhead into a hug and held her tighter once she attempted to get away. Wanting to cheer her friend up she said, "Ranma, I'm sure that she won't think badly of you once you explain everything to her. Besides if you want I'll even do everything I can to help you."

"You will."

"Of course, we are friends and that's what friends do. They help each other."

An idea suddenly popped into Ranma's head, an idea so insane and improbable that it had to work. Blinking cutely she asked, "So you mean that?"

Not liking Ranma's sudden 180 but not wanting to risk upsetting her, Lisa said, "Yes Ranma, I'll do anything that within my ability to help you. Though if any super powered martial artists come along I'll just order a few Veritechs to launch to take care of them."

Now Ranma was really smiling and asked, "Anything?"

Still not entirely positive that she was not going to regret it Lisa said, "Yes, anything."

Ranma nodded happily, positive that his friend was going to help her she said, "Good, first thing, I need you to call and tell Uncle Roy that you aren't going to be there tonight."

"Now wait a minute Ranma, how is me not being there going to help you?"

"You'll be there, but as Larry"

"WHAT? Ranma in case you haven't noticed I am a woman and not a man."

Ranma shrugged as she swept Lisa into her arms. Squeezing the woman into her chest briefly she said, "Tomato, Tamato, and I'm a guy." That said Ranma began running back to her room near the flight deck.

------------- One hour later outside the White Dragon -------

It was just a few minutes before eight and a couple was approaching the White Dragon. The man who had long dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail was wearing black slacks, a gray dress shirt and black tie. The woman, a certain busty young redhead was wearing a skirt that fell just above her knees and a white blouse with a black vest. Turning to her companion she said, "Oh come on it's not that big of a deal, it happens to me all the time."

Shaking his head the man replied, "Yeah I know, but when I said I'd do any thing to help you, this was not on the list."

Ranma sighed sadly and said, "I thought you said you'd help me."

The man paused and clasped his hand on Ranma's shoulder and said, "Yes I did, and even though this is not what I was thinking about, I will do this for you. However, before this gets out of hand I really think that you should just come clean. And I still really don't understand how this could possibly work, your mother has already seen you as a guy and I don't look anything like you."

Ranma shrugged and said, "Yeah but that was a month ago and I was wearing the flight suit and headgear so she never got a good look at me, plus I told her my intercom was malfunctioning so she doesn't know what I am supposed to sound like. So basically you are meeting her for the second time, and if she asked you about any of the things that happened you already know because it was in Uncle Roy's report. Now come on, I'm hungry." As if to reinforce her point Ranma's stomach let it's presence know."?

Lisa/ Larry was sort of put off on his current problem, he had found himself in a situation that he would of never been able to think of no matter how much time would of passed. The only reason that he had been willing to go through with it was the fact that Ranma seemed to be a little better once he had agreed. He still didn't know what was going on in the redheads mind though but that was something he was going to get out from her sooner or later. She thought, "_Ok, I can get through this. It's for Ranma and I said I would help. It's not like this is permanent either, she told me that it would wear off after a while. I swear though, I will get to the bottom of what is bugging her." _ Then as an after thought Lisa added, "_Speaking of bottoms, I can see why Ranma had so many problems back in Nerima."_ Remembering that she was a guy at the moment Lisa sped up his pace so that he could do the gentlemanly thing and open the door for her. She figured that if she was going to be a guy for the evening that she would act how she remembered Karl had treated her."

Once they arrived inside the White Dragon they were Greeted by en exuberant Minmei.

Minmei had had a interesting month, when the SDF-1 preformed their fold operation she had been out joy riding with Rick Hunter. Being in a fanjet in space proved to be a bad idea as they soon found themselves crashing back inside of the ship. They had been lost for a few days when they had been found by Ranma's mother and a whole convoy of engineers making their way deeper into the ship to begin the reconstruction of Macross city. While Minmei had been thankful of the save she had often taken to wondering what might of happened if they had remained lost. She had really begun to enjoy the company of Rick Hunter and was slightly saddened by not seeing him in the past several weeks. She did understand why he had gone though; people were needed to protect the ship. After hearing about her friend Ranma's exploits from Roy Fokker and catching the occasional gossip from some pilots during the week that the White Dragon had reopened had given her a desire to help as well.

Unfortunately for Minmei she did not know what she could do to help, she was just a girl and not even sixteen yet, though her birthday was coming up soon. Ranma had done a lot for her indirectly, one of those things was her newfound desire to do something more to ease others of their suffering during the hard times that were sure to come. The other and this surprised Minmei is that she found herself yearning to be around Rick again, there was something about him that held her interest, especially when compared to a lot of the other men she had known. That's not saying that she had known a lot of men personally, the only real men she had really associated with were either family, pilots or the few scoundrels that accosted her a year ago. But of the men she had known only Ranma and Roy were prime examples of what she wanted in a boyfriend. It was Minmei's impression that Rick also shared these qualities and he seemed to blend in the best aspects that Roy and Ranma both had to offer.

Minmei passed a table, she knew the occupants, it was Roy Fokker and his Girlfriend Claudia Grant, and they were waiting on Ranma and his mother to show up. Minmei had heard that Lisa had cancelled and frowned at that. She thought, "_It's a shame, Lisa and Ranma look good together. I just hope that nothing happened in-between the two to break them apart before they even started going out."_

As she passed by another table she heard the door chime call out, notifying that another customer had entered the restaurant, turning her attention to the people that had entered she cried out, "Ranko."

Rushing forward she greeted her friend in a warm hug, it was then that her attention was diverted by the handsome man that entered in after Ranma. Composing herself she said, "Welcome to the White Dragon, my name is Minmei and I'll be your waitress tonight. Of course I am the only waitress that works here so odds are if you come in here again I'll be your waitress then too."

Lisa was still getting used to his temporary body, when he saw Minmei hug Ranma he went through a series of emotions. They ranged from jealousy (though she would never consciously or unconsciously admit it) to relief that it was just Minmei to the oddest sensation he had had yet, though he had no idea on how even to begin to classify it. All he knew was that it had something to do with the way the two girls were embracing and the interesting things it was doing to Ranma's cleavage. Shaking his mind away from thoughts that he didn't want to deal with Lisa stepped over to Ranma's side and said, "We're both here for Colonel Fokker's party."

Minmei was slightly taken aback, she really wanted Ranma and Lisa to get together but after looking at this guy he seemed to fit along side Ranma as well. Though it was a bit disconcerting to see Ranma with another guy she was not about to judge her, after all she knew what her friend went through and just wanted her to be happy. So in her usual cheerful manner she said of course, it's this way, though only Colonel Fokker and his girlfriend are the only other ones here. I have been told that Commander Hayes had to cancel."

Ranma wasn't sure how to respond, she had just thought of something that seemed rather disturbing to her. She just realized how appearing in public with a guy was going to imply to those that knew who she really was. On one hand she wanted to inform Minmei that Lisa was standing right next to her, on the other she didn't want to embarrass her friend who was doing something nice for her. Luckily the decision was taken out of her hands.

Lisa saw the warning look that Minmei shot at her, it seemed to say hurt her and I'll hurt you, it was a look that was outright scary coming from a young girl and especially Minmei in particular. Not really wanting to be subjected to the tortures that one came be subjected to by a waitress she stepped forward and said into Minmei's ear, "It's ok Minmei, it's me Lisa." Noticing that the young girl was going to shriek and demand a explanation she added, "Don't worry it's only temporary and it's a favor to Ranma so we'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone. If Ranma wants to he can explain later, ok?"

Minmei nodded and composed herself, she found herself somewhat relieved to find out that Ranma arrived with Lisa though she was sort of wierded out with the fact that Commander Hayes was currently a very attractive man. Deciding that if she really wanted to know she could ask them about it later she said, "Okay, if you two would just follow me I'll bring you to your table."

Minmei led the two to the back of the restaurant where they had placed a divider up to keep Colonel Fokker's party somewhat private, stepping to the side she waited for Ranma and Lisa to sit down and order their drinks.

Drawing off her experiences with Karl, Lisa stepped up to the booth and ushered Ranma politely into it, he then sat down after her maintaining a comfortable distance, when he looked up she was startled to see the confused glares of two of her friends. Forgetting his current gender Lisa asked, "Roy, Claudia, what? Do I have something on my face?"

Minmei giggled from her spot a few feet away from the table reminding Lisa of one small fact, she was a guy and had not taken the time to explain to Roy when she cancelled earlier. Looking around he was relieved to find out that Nodoka had not yet arrived. Clearing his throat he briefly wondered how he was going to explain this crazy plan of Ranma's. Then an idea struck her, it was evil but he thought it was well deserved, Claudia had been relentless in teasing her whenever she talked about Ranma, Roy was always joking around and Ranma had come up with this plan in the first place. Smirking he scooted closer to Ranma so that their legs were now touching, putting his arm around the redhead he said, "So I take it that my little date here failed to tell you that I was coming with her tonight?"

Roy glared at the man who had his arm draped around his nephew, he wasn't in a mood to play around all of the sudden, especially considering the latest news that Captain Davis and his sister told him. He was worried about Ranma's state of mind, he knew that isolating Ranma from the rest of the crew was not a good idea but with his condition he couldn't put him up in either of the old barracks. He had hoped that Ranma would be all right until the new ones were completed. Unfortunately some guy managed to come around and put the moves on Ranma, or worse knew of the situation and was extorting his nephew for his sick perverted pleasure. He was certain of his convictions because he knew that Ranma liked Commander Hayes, sure Ranma never said anything and usually went into denials but whenever Lisa was around Ranma would relax and enjoy himself, she seemed to have that effect on his nephew. Turning his attention to his side he shot a glance at his girlfriend to see if they were in agreement. He nodded to himself yes, Claudia was pissed, probably more so because Lisa was her best friend and she had spent countless amounts of effort to get Lisa to open up and put the moves on Ranma because both of them knew that Ranma would never be aggressive in seeking out a relationship unless it was forced upon her or a move of desperation on Ranma's part. And even if that was the case it was usually for a cure, being that they were in space a very long distance from earth Roy knew that this wasn't about a cure.

Ranma in the meantime was oblivious to the events going on around her, she had not even taken the effort to remove Lisa's arm from around her shoulders, and instead she shuffled herself to where she was partially resting comfortably against Lisa. The reason for her obliviousness was that her long deprived appetite had picked up and re-asserted itself; she was currently busy munching on the appetizers sitting at the table.

Minmei realized to an extent of what was going on, she figured that Colonel Fokker was being an over-protective Uncle, seeing that her presence was being ignored she said, "Excuse me, but would you like something to drink?"

Lisa smiled at Minmei, adding further agitation to the situation and said, "I'll have a glass of house wine and Ranma will have a 7 up." Turning her attention back to his table mates Lisa nearly flinched at the glares he was getting from his friends, deciding that it would be best for him to come clean and seeing that Ranma was currently stuffing her face with appetizers she started to say, "Now just wait a minute, I can explain."

Roy was seconds away from exploding to his feet and having this upstart spaced, deciding to give him an opportunity to explain himself he growled out, "You Damm well better start doing it now then."

Wanting to flinch from the venom in Roy's voice Lisa held on strong and gave her companion a slight squeeze on her shoulder causing Ranma to shift unconsciously in her seat to where her body was snuggled more firmly against the Neo man. Lisa sighed to himself, it appeared that he would be doing the explaining on his own. On the other hand though he was sort of relieved to see Ranma eating again, he had noticed that she had lost some weight and was appearing worse for wear earlier in the day. So he took it as a mixed blessing, and just wished that Ranma would of stayed off her hunger until after a few things had been explained. Nervously clearing his throat he started, "You can relax Roy, it's me Lisa."

Roy wasn't about to buy into some nonsense he knew that Lisa didn't have a curse he was about to object when Claudia spoke.

Claudia had been silently fuming, her thoughts had been mirroring Roy's and was taken aback at how this upstart seemed to take familiar terms with them. Oh she wasn't a high and mighty officer no but given the situation she was allowed a bit of leeway on the issue. But the minute the man announced himself as being Lisa she noticed something, Lisa always, whenever she was out of uniform, wore a locket that had a picture of Karl and herself in it. Underneath the shirt she could see the faint outlines of a locket very similar. Deciding to take a slightly less aggressive approach she said, "Prove it."

Lisa sighed again and said, "Okay, remember when you first met Roy and started to go out with him?"

Claudia nodded, while Roy masked his fury with questionable silence.

"Well I remember that you came over to my place with a box, and inside the box were…"

"Okay, okay, I believe you."

Roy snapped in his seat and said, "You believe her just like that? She didn't even say anything explaining it she just mentioned a box."

Claudia turned to Roy and said, "Yeah, but only she and I know what's in the box and I intend to keep it that way."

Seeing that some of the tension has gone away Lisa relaxed and began to explain what was going on Midway through the conversation a blushing Ranma returned to the world of the not eating and apologized for spacing out like she had. The others Roy and Lisa were understanding of the fact while Claudia let it go knowing Ranma liked to eat.

Many might be wondering where Nodoka is during this but seeing that Roy and Claudia were ten minutes early and Ranma and Lisa had arrived a few minutes early as well that gave them time to discuss things and find out what was going on. Nodoka was running a minute late she had wanted her appearance to be perfect when she revealed her sons curse to herself. She had it all planned out, she was going to bring Ranma up in conversation and say how proud she was of him and mention how she burned up the stupid pledge. If that didn't work she was going to accidentally spill hot water on Ranma forcing him to change. However there was also a plan B that was incase Ranma had taken her earlier message to heart and arrived as himself then she was going to get along with him until they were about to leave, then she was going to spill cold water on him forcing him to change into his cursed form. She had had enough of sidestepping the issue and just wanted her child to know that she cared no matter what. She had noticed how Ranma had been earlier and was extremely worried for him. She walked into the restaurant not seeing Minmei around she just made her way towards the back. Coming around the divider she saw a man sitting next to her son with his hand around her shoulders. The two were snuggled up almost intimately. She wanted to cry, she was losing her son and it was all her fault. She knew that this was no ploy because if Ranma had asked someone to pretend to be Larry she would never allow him to get away with being all touchy like that. She also had thought that Ranma had feelings for Lisa but was too scared to even admit it to himself. Seeing her chances for meeting her son crumbling away she sighed sadly, it just wasn't fair. He had been stolen away from her and she had been forced to go through less than honorable means to even get in his life and now it appeared that Ranma wanted to be Ranko. She felt that she could deal with it if Ranma liked men after all she was his mother and did love him, but if Ranma wanted to embrace her Ranko persona then she would never be a mother again, it would always be aunty this or aunty that.

Masking her face in a neutral expression that barely kept the hurt away Nodoka approached the table and coughed politely to alert everyone of her presence. Then speaking as clearly as she could she said, "Sorry I'm running a little late."

Ranma had been oblivious to the arm around her and was actually subconsciously enjoying the warmth that it held, but in seeing her mother arrive she immediately realized her position and shuffled out of it as quickly as she could while maintaining some level of dignity.

Lisa had been aware of where his arm was but had gotten distracted by avoiding a confrontation with his friends, after the matter of his identity had been cleared up though he had kept it there because he was too busy cataloging how he was internally reacting to the warm body at his side. When he heard a cough and felt Ranma scuffle out of position he sighed internally wondering why he had been enjoying himself when he was really a woman.

Roy turned to look at his sister, knowing her like he did he could see the hurt in her eyes. Not wanting to have her suffer and taking a good guess at what it was he said, "Nodoka, could I have a word with you for a minute, it's about the new Veritech."

Nodoka nodded and stepped away from the table she had caught onto Roy's subtle mannerisms and hoped that her first guesses were wrong.

Claudia rolled her eyes in her seat; she couldn't understand why Roy would want to talk shop while they were supposed to be enjoying themselves. Then however she caught on how Nodoka's expression shifted slightly and became suspicious. Thinking a little more on it she was certain that Nodoka and Roy were up to something but wasn't aware as to what it was. With a smile she thought, "_I'll get it out of him tonight, I have just the technique for it."_

Lisa had also caught something during the brief exchange and was silently wondering on what it could have been about. She had her guesses but shook those away almost instantly. She figured that there was no way that Ranma's mother knew about the curse because if she did, then why has she let the façade go on unchecked for so long.

----------- Meanwhile in the hall where the bathrooms are located ----------

"Okay Roy what is it, and it better be good."

"Well, it seems…."

"I don't believe this, Dammit Roy I was all set to force him, err, her to reveal the curse tonight."

"Well you can still do that but I think that it might be best to wait so that we don't embarrass Lisa."

Nodoka sighed and said, "Yeah your right, it's just that I'm worried about him, he was practically listless when I ran into her earlier."

Roy nodded his head and said, "I know, I have been hearing the same things from Captain Davis and Lt. Mitchell."

"You've had people spying on him?"

"No that's not it at all, listen I figured that Captain Davis would be a good role model for Ranma seeing that he has a few children around Ranma's age. Lt. Mitchell overheard me and went out of his way to attempt to befriend him, that's just how Gary is though he likes to help and doesn't like to see people suffer, he was a missionary before joining the RDF so I know that his intentions are honorable and not some way to extort Ranma for something."

"So how long am I supposed to wait now, I don't know what's wrong and I can't get Ranma to open up. Do you know what she told me earlier? She basically told me that she was ashamed of herself, I had thought by taking things slow with her that it was a good idea but she has begun to get far worse and I don't know how much I can take."

"Sis, I won't let things get any worse, if things don't improve soon I'll revoke Ranma's flight duties and force him into meeting with someone to talk about what has been bothering him."

Nodoka shook her head and replied, "No, not unless he is a danger to himself or others. I get the feeling that Ranma feels guilty about what he has been doing, he needs to understand it's necessary and doesn't make him evil or scum. What I want you to do though is get him off of that flight deck and put him in barracks with the rest of the crew, him being alone like that is only making things worse."

"Where am I supposed to put him? In the men's barracks with an open shower that shoots out cold water or the woman's barracks that fires out scalding water? Lets face it, for Ranma's sake I had no choice then to put him out there, he isn't a senior officer so can't get the quarters that Lisa, Claudia and I get. Until the new barracks are finished that's the only place I could put him. And it's not like there are a whole lot of vacant apartments around town."

Nodoka sighed and said, "Yeah, you're right about that, but tomorrow I want you to explain why you put him where you did."

"Okay, I'll do that. But we need to get going back before they get suspicious."

"Yeah, you're right, not everybody is as bad as my son when it comes to suspicious absences."

-------------

The two returned to the table and a pleasant dinner followed after Lisa was introduced as Larry. The only down side had been when Minmei returned and brought up the conversation of the upcoming Miss Macross pageant. That's not saying that having Minmei around made the dinner unpleasant no it was the consequence of the topic she brought up that had brought the mood down a little. It had started innocently when Roy said that Claudia was the Only Miss Macross he needed, but that fired off Claudia's more playful side and she teased Larry that Ranko would make a great Miss Macross. Of course, Larry being new to being a man but knowing that women like to be reassured, even though he knew Ranma wasn't a woman heartily agreed thinking that that's what Karl would of done. Claudia had noticed the distasteful look on Ranma's face and quipped, "What's the matter Ranko? You're not afraid of losing are you?" That had the instantaneous effect of bringing out Ranma's never lose attitude that had been drilled into her for years. Excited by the conformation that one of her friends was now going to participate Minmei was literally gushing on about how great it was going to be.

Ranma had a lot of weaknesses, none that she would admit but her fear of disappointing Minmei whom seemed to be thrilled at competing against her was one of them so she took it in stride and dared Claudia to compete because if she had to contend then she'd show her. (Remember Ranma thinks that Claudia was faking being friends.) To make things worse though Claudia had somehow managed to get Larry to watch and be Ranma's coach along with Nodoka whom seemed somewhat puzzled by the sudden happenings.

After that conversation died down and a number of people blinked at what they had just gotten themselves into, the dinner resumed its previous pleasant atmosphere. At around nine thirty the group decided to head off, Nodoka had a lot of work to do so she decided to turn in. Claudia wanting to enjoy the evening more invited a hesitant male Lisa and female Ranma to continue their celebration at a club that had just re-opened. Lisa had declined at first thinking that he would rather go back to Ranma's and change back to her normal self. But then Ranma had used her teary eyed technique and convinced Lisa to go. Thinking that Karl would have gone for it he nodded and the two couples headed out.

Once there Lisa was surprised, usually Roy and Claudia would run off and ditch her and Ranma but they seemed to be tagging around for some reason, until Ranma nearly dislocated his arm jerking him over to the bar. Once there the bartender was giving Ranma grief over her age and the fact that she didn't look like a pilot and therefore wasn't going to be served, Lisa tried to interject but he didn't have an id that he could use. They were saved when Roy and Claudia caught up; the bartender after recognizing Roy decided to fill their orders. It was around that time that Lisa noticed Ranma was keeping clear of Claudia, she figured it probably had something to do with being tricked into the Miss Macross pageant so she pulled Claudia aside.

"Claudia, I think you need to give Ranma a little space, she seems to be upset about the whole Miss Macross thing."

"But Lisa, you know I was just playing around, we do that sort of thing all the time. I had no idea that that would happen."

"I know, just give me a chance and I'll explain it to Ranma after she calms down."

Sighing Claudia said, "Yeah, okay." Seeing a chance for some more mischief with her friend she asked, "You know you've been doing a pretty good job of being the dutiful boyfriend tonight. If I didn't know better I'd say that you and Ranma were on a date tonight."

Lisa blushed and fidgeted nervously confirming Claudia's suspicions.

Slightly shocked she exclaimed, "You are? Aren't you?"

Lisa shook her head in denial and said, "No you have it all wrong. Look, when Ranma asked me to do this tonight I was hesitant but seeing the hurt look on her face made me decide to do it. I promised that I would do this but I don't know anything about being a guy. So I thought about it and decided that I would just do what I thought Karl would do. So we are not on a date, but it looks like it because I am just doing what I feel Karl would do for me."

Claudia laughed slightly at her friend and said, "You know a year ago I would of never imagined this scenario. But are you sure it's not a date? Ranma seems to be enjoying herself, even if she seems to be avoiding Roy and mad at me."

Lisa sighed and said, "Honestly I don't know anymore. At first I thought Ranma was just Lonely and was enjoying herself but, no it's nothing, never mind."

Her interest renewed, Claudia asked, "Oh. What's nothing?"

Lisa slumped in defeat and cursed his big mouth, shrugging he said, "Well it's just that I know Ranma doesn't like guy's. Remember what would happen whenever they tried to hit on her? But tonight she has been letting me get away with things that she would never let anyone else do. Like back at the restaurant, I had my arm around her for several minutes and she was pressing herself against me, not even his fiancée's got that reaction out of her."

Claudia was silent for a minute before she snapped her fingers and said, "I got it."

"What's it?"

"It is rather simple really. It all boils down to one simple fact."

Interested with her friend's insight she asked, "Ok so what is this fact?"

"Ranma likes you but isn't aware of it fully or is hiding it, it makes sense, you can touch her, she responds to it. Though I wonder if it's just because you look so yummy as a man."

Not wanting to deal with his best friend mock flirting with him he turned around and said, "I'm just going to walk away now. Do try to not stare too hard at my butt."

Without thinking Claudia fired out, "What? I'm not allowed to appreciate the view?" Of course the realization that Lisa had just gotten her sank in, and her thoughts turned to wondering if they needed blankets in hell.

-------------------

Roy had been sitting silently next to his nephew currently niece, there were a lot of things that he needed to say but was unsure of where to begin. He had found himself missing the old pre war Ranma and was tempted to just ask bluntly what was going on but he knew that Ranma would probably close down and distance herself further from him. He knew that he had made a few mistakes but had no idea on how to fix them, silently he thought, "_Maybe I should tell Claudia what's going on, I never did get a chance before. If she knows then maybe she can help me deal with this because I am at a loss."_

---------------

Ranma was busy doing two things, to the outside would she was slamming drinks like there was no tomorrow, but internally she was attempting to cope with certain feelings.

"_What's wrong with me? Ever since Lisa agreed to do this for me I have felt relaxed. I even was sitting up against her at the restaurant, I mean I don't like guy's at all so why did I not notice it? If I were back in Nerima that wouldn't of ever happened and I probably would of sent her into LEO. But even before that when we were at the arcade I was having a blast. Maybe Gary was right and I do need someone around. Man this is so stupid I don't know what to do."_

Ranma was pulled out of her musings by Lisa (still in male form) putting his arm around her and asking her something. Not catching it over the noise of the bar she asked, "What did you say?"

Lisa moved himself closer to Ranma's ear and asked in a louder voice, "I asked, if you wanted to dance?"

Ranma shrugged in her seat, she really wasn't in to dancing but she didn't feel like sitting around either. Deciding that more alcohol would calm her nerves she reached out with her enhanced speed and snagged her uncle's, Claudia's and Lisa's drinks and gulped them down equally as fast. Rising to her feet she said, "Sure lets go."

Ranma made sure to grab a hold of a few more drinks as she made her way to the dance floor. Unfortunately consuming mass amounts of alcohol in very short time has an advert affect on ones senses this holds true to even high-powered gender cursed martial artists? It was after their third dance that Ranma began to feel the sledgehammer of instant drunkenness, as fate would have it happened during a slow song. Not truly aware of what she was doing, she pressed herself up close into her partner's body. After a few more turns Ranma began to enjoy the closeness and began to let her hands wander on their own, they slowly worked their way up until her arms were now draped along Lisa's neck.

Lisa was beginning to enjoy herself, as herself she would never truly cut back and act so free and careless, but under the guise of a good looking man he was able to cut loose and step outside of her usual self. It was liberating on several levels. Once the slow song came on she felt arms wrapped loosely around her neck, deciding that she was enjoying the redheads attention she began to let her own hands wander, she was surprised when they settled on the redheads butt after leaving a trail of light caresses. Looking down she saw an expectant look in Ranma's eyes. Losing control of herself, most likely from alcohol, pent up ignored emotions, newness to the sensations he was feeling, and a whole other block of things he didn't care about, he bent forward slightly holding the woman close and met her lips.

Ranma was blitzed from a combination of having no tolerance and having way too much to drink in a short amount of time. So when Lisa leaned down to kiss her she returned it because she was only relying on default information. That was that Lisa was a attractive woman, this was true in Ranma's mind because unlike her Lisa did not have a permanent curse and temporary curses are just that, temporary and not given any weight in her thought process.

After breaking off the kiss Lisa realized something, well a few things. One the kiss had been phenomenal. Two she was still a he and Ranma a her. Three he was enjoying the close contact. And four, Ranma was smashed out of her mind, oh she was drunk too but after sampling the kiss she realized that Ranma's mouth tasted like jet fuel. Deciding that they should go before either of them does something they might regret later, Lisa shifted himself so that one of his arms was now supporting the wasted redhead and started to escort her home.

----------- Thirty minutes later--

Lisa pushed open the door to Ranma's room and begun to walk inside. Ranma had seemed to sober up slightly and was walking on her own. Still slightly drunk Lisa said, "I'm just going to start to undress here, do you feel good enough to grab me a robe and some water?"

Ranma nodded her head, stumbling from the concussive force she made her way into the bathroom.

--------- Ten minutes later ------

Lisa had undressed down to his borrowed boxers and was waiting for Ranma to return, he sighed and figured that she was probably taking care of business, but was unwilling to use the kitchen for hot water without anything to cover up with. Sitting down on the couch Lisa shivered from the coldness that was notorious on this deck of the ship and wrapped a small blanket around him to keep warm.

------- Ten minutes later ---------

Lisa was getting worried, Ranma had been in the bathroom for twenty minutes, he was about to get up and check on her when he heard the door open. Calling out he said, "I was getting worried about you. Another minute and I would have gone in there to check on you." Silence was the only answer. He was about to ask if everything was all right but was quickly silenced once he felt arms wrap around his neck. Turning his head he was shocked to find his mouth filled by an eager seeming redhead. Pushing himself away he said, "Ranma, think about what your doing, your drunk and I don't think you would be doing this sober." Unfortunately for Lisa, drunk or not Ranma was insanely strong, all his attempt had done was cause him to fall back dragging the redhead along with. Now Ranma was on top of him showing off her natural beauty. Nervously adverting his eyes he said, "Ranma, I really think that I need to go, now. I can get my clothes tomorrow." Looking up in her eyes Lisa was started to see them tracked with tears flowing freely. Pushing aside the fact that he was really a she with a girl that was really a he sitting naked on top of him Lisa asked, "Ranma? What's wrong? Please talk to me."

The only words Lisa could make out were, "Stay" and, "Don't wanna be alone." Lisa knew at that moment that he was in no danger of doing something he didn't want to do. Pulling the redhead close he just held her as she cried incoherently, after a few minutes Lisa grabbed the blanket from it's place on the floor and wrapped it around them as best as she could with one arm.

-------------------- Early the next morning -------------

Lisa woke up early as she usually does, blame it on years of being either around or in the military. Shaking his head he started to remember the events of the last night and was immediately concerned, last night seeing Ranma in tears and throwing herself at him had been disconcerting and alarming. He now knew that there was something really wrong with her friend, or were they more than that. She didn't know but wanted to find out. Opening his eyes he looked down and blushed, the blanket had fallen off to the side and was barely covering them; more so behind the blush was the revelation of what that odd feeling was. It seemed that he was suffering from a symptom that a lot of males had in the morning. Not wanting Ranma to wake up in such a compromising position he gently moved her aside, accidentally giving himself a better view of his companion.

After getting off the couch Lisa attempted to calm himself, unfortunately this being a new sensation to her make it even more difficult especially when his mind kept reminding him of Ranma. She tried going through baseball stats but all that managed to do was fill her with the desire to fire the main gun at Dusty Bakers house, and put the picture in her mind on what Ranma would look like in cubbie blue. Seeing that that didn't work she tried to picture Ranma as a naked male, unfortunately her subconscious said she liked him as well and did nothing to release him from his excited state. After a few more minutes of pacing Lisa realized that seeing Ranma naked must have something to do with it so he went over and recovered her with the blanket. After resuming his pacing he was at a loss when his latest ploy failed. Try as he might no other options were forthcoming, breaking down he went into the bathroom to take care of business.

------------- Thirty minutes later ---------

Lisa wrapped up his business and frowned, it wasn't that he didn't enjoy it. It was more like there was something missing. Not wanting to dwell on it he turned on the sinks hot water to clean up. Reaching down he quickly realized something. Turning her attention away from the sink and to the wall behind her she started banging her head against the wall repeating, "I am such a pervert." Over and over.

----------Ten minutes afterwards---------

Ranma woke up feeling completely refreshed and better than she had felt in a long time, stretching out she opened her eyes and saw a slightly worried looking Lisa, if that wasn't enough to tip her off the next words were.

Lisa saw Ranma wake up and was relieved that she had managed to wake up before hand and change. Seeing that her friend was awake she said, "Ranma, I think we need to talk."

------------------------------

------ End of chapter ----

----- Notes:

Some might question Captain Gloval knowing about Ranma, take in mind he is captain of the ship, Nodoka is a senor engineer, the request went from Nodoka to Dr. Lang he then would of forwarded it to the captain, remember the intelligence DVDs in the first chapter? Yeah those, Captain Gloval would have seen them because it directly involved someone in a high enough position.

Lt. Mitchell- I decided that he might of existed in the original series but was killed early on so that's why he wasn't in the story. Plus I figured that I would give Ranma a friend besides the ones he had, Gary is a easy going fellow and believed Ranma about the curse, well like he said, his mother was turned into a newt. What she got better.

It's really hard to come up with a plausible way to keep the two worlds of Ranma and robotech, I do hope I am doing a satisfactory job, if you see a mistake let me know and I will attempt to make it better.

About the latter part of this chapter, I wanted something that would show Ranma's want to be around somebody after the near isolation from his peers, though it was unintentional and was the only option at the time. Plus I felt that Ranma might have done something similar if his mother would of asked in the series.


	5. Chapter 5

Notes: chapters: 1,2,3 have been re-edited with some corrections, when I reposted chapter one after accidentally deleting the story I uploaded an older less edited chapter

. Oh I fixed the error of roy being only a major, now he was a major and got promoted to lt colonel

Also, in regards to the timeline. Many may have noticed that by this time the SDF-1 would be approaching Saturn's rings, and that the Miss Macross pageant should still be a little ways away. After all Minmei has not even had her birthday yet. Well my best explanation is that the town council decided to do it early because of the lull in combat and the increasing construction in the city reminding them that they are preparing for a war (i.e. military barracks and the monorail) the likes of which they had not seen before. Also like many events that are, going to change it is kinda like turning left when you usually turn right.

About Ranma: last chapter showed a low point for Ranma, things will get better for a while but it is kinda like the quiet before the storm. Oh and the ending of last chapter I had been working forward for it to set up a small joke with Lisa. But I forgot it by thee time I got to the end, I remembered something close to what I originally intended so it's there now, right before Ranma wakes up at the end.

About the SDF-1: the only thing I added was two more reflex cannons secondary to the main gun, I did upgrade their missile batteries, as well as gave the Destroids a small upgrade, along the same lines as I gave the normal Veritechs. Oh and after visiting the robotech site I changed the name of the new prototype to the X2, because the original is a VF-X my mistake, but as I said it's been awhile since I had seen the series and I am doing a decent job remembering some of the details, with out researching it. Now I have a reference, thank you.

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-----

"Ranma, I think that we need to talk about what has been going on with you."

Ranma shuffled uncomfortably on the couch and brought herself to a seated position, after wrapping the blanket around herself to conceal her nudity she replied, "Nothings been going on Lisa."

Lisa shook her head sadly and went over to the couch and sat down next Ranma, bringing her hand over to rest on the smaller girls thigh she said, "Ranma, I am not a total idiot, especially after what happened last night, I know that there is something wrong."

Ranma not remembering anything from the night before other than having dinner and going to a dance club, shifted in her seat nervously and asked meekly, "What happened last night?"

Lisa sighed, she knew that Ranma was very adamant about her manhood and knew that certain events from last night might do more harm than good said, "Well, nothing physical if that's what you are worried about. However, there were a few things that were said that I think we should discuss."

Ranma's shoulders slumped, she new now that she had messed up and that Lisa was mad at her, not wanting her friend to be upset with her she said, "Lisa, I'm sorry. Whatever I said, I didn't mean it."

Lisa shook her head and replied, "Ranma, there is nothing that you said last night that warrants an apology. I guess that I will just have to be direct with you. Last night, you said a few things about not wanting to be alone. Now I know that there has been something wrong with you for a while and I am worried about you. I realize that I had not seen you in a month but I had been buried in work. Please just talk to me about what's been bothering you, remember yesterday I promised to help."

Ranma sighed, she did not like talking about her problems, and she felt that it was unfair to burden others with things that they could do nothing about. Attempting to avoid the issue Ranma said, "Lisa, its nothing to worry about, just some stupid things that I can't do anything about."

Lisa sighed and said, "Look Ranma, I know that there is something bothering you. Yesterday you looked like you hadn't slept or ate in a week. You were being cautious around almost everyone. I really think that you should talk about it, hey maybe I can help put it in perspective for you and help. Whatever it is, you don't have to face it alone."

Ranma sat silent for a minute; she couldn't understand why Lisa wanted to help her. Deciding to ask a question of her own she asked, "Why?"

Lisa clamped her hand down firmly on Ranma's thigh, gave it a reassuring squeeze and said, "Because, I care and last night I think I realized something. You know since Karl died I haven't wanted to be in a relationship because I wasn't ready. But now, I am not so sure, there was something you said last night that made me think that perhaps its time that I try to move on."

Ranma did not know what to say, she was happy for Lisa but at the same time was feeling another emotion that she wasn't so sure about.

Lisa not seeing a response forthcoming continued, "I know that you have a few fiancées waiting for you back on earth, and what I am going to ask might seem dishonorable to you but I think that you need this as much if not more so than what I do."

Confused Ranma pursed her lips and asked, "Need what?"

Lisa sighed, she knew Ranma was a little dense about these things but did not realize to the extent. Cupping the redhead's chin with her free hand she turned Ranma to face her and said, "I am talking about us becoming more than friends. I realized last night that I am attracted to you and that I no longer want to be alone. Plus I think that deep down you don't want to be either."

Ranma's jaw would have dropped to the floor if it had not been for Lisa's hand holding it in place. Confused she asked, "More than friends?"

Looking deep into Ranma's blue orbs she softly said, "Yes, more than friends, as in boy friend-girlfriend or girlfriend-girlfriend whichever the case may be at the time."

Ranma's wanted to protest and tell her that she shouldn't waste her time on a dishonorable murdering cur like her, whose only real skills are violent in nature and that she was best used as an instrument of death and shouldn't be allowed near anybody because of her foul nature. But try as she might those words failed to escape her lips. Instead, she noticed that something had managed to get into her eyes again and was causing them to tear up to dislocate the foreign matter. She realized that this had been happening a lot lately, and that while she could hold on to the soul of ice when in male form, her cursed form was becoming resistant to the technique and causing her to have all types of weird feelings..

Lisa saw the tears slowly falling from Ranma's eyes, she new that what ever was causing it had to do ith Ranma's problem and by her guess, it had something to do with the currently younger girls self worth. Deciding that actions in this case were stronger than words, she shifted her arms and brought Ranma into her lap, enveloping her in a hug. She then began to softly stroke her hair while bringing Ranma's face-to-face her once more.

Ranma was stronger than Lisa it had nothing to do with girls were weaker because at the moment Ranma felt extremely weak. She thought, "_Stupid curse. Stupid foreign piece of matter that won't get out of my eye. Stupid soul of ice not working when I'm like this. What could Lisa possibly see in me? I'm nothing more than a freak. Why should she care?" _As if to answer herself, she thought, "_Because she says that she's my friend and wants to help me. But she wants to be more than that. Why?"_

Sensing Ranma's internal confusion Lisa brought her lips down slowly to meet the red heads and gave her a slow, passionate kiss. Pulling back she said, "Ranma, I care about you and want to help you. Please just let me do this."

Stunned by the intensity of the kiss Ranma could only mange a meek, "Why?"

Wrapping her arms around the redhead once more she said, "Because of who you are. Because you are, brave, honorable, strong, and heroic. You are everything a woman could possibly want in a man."

Ranma choked out a snort and said, "Yeah everything, including my own set of boobs."

Lisa sighed and replied, "Ranma, has it ever occurred to you that as long as you are cursed to become a woman half the time that whomever you marry or go out with would have to have certain appetites for you to be happy?"

Puzzled Ranma asked, "Huh, you mean like foods?"

Lisa shook her head and said, "No not like foods. Ranma, if you want to be happy with a relationship, whomever you go out with is going to have to accept your curse. It wouldn't be healthy or fair to you to just care about one side and spite the other."

As Ranma's eyes widened she exclaimed, "But that means. That you… But, isn't that??? "

Lisa gave the redhead another squeeze and said, "Yeah I guess it does mean that I am Bisexual, it's kind of funny but I didn't realize it until last night. Perhaps, it's only you that I like and not other women in general. As for what else you were going to say, perverted, I believe was the word you wanted to use. That would depend on if what happens behind closed doors is anyone's business. For example, and I am just going to come right out and ask, when was the last time you masturbated in either form?"

Ranma's face turned red; shaking her head from side to side she began to deny doing it at anytime.

Lisa sighed and muttered, "Figures." Speaking clearly she said, "Well that's something that your going to have to do on your own, and you might want to give it a try, it's normal and everyone does it. But the point of the question I asked was that it wasn't any of my business."

Ranma sighed meekly and softly replied, "But you asked?"

Lisa looked up at the ceiling and thought, "_This is going to take awhile."_

_--------- _The night before in Roy's quarters ---------

Roy fumbled with his wallet in an attempt to remove his room key without dislocating Claudia from his arms. After a few awkward movements that were interrupted with passionate kisses Roy succeeded in locating the Key and opening the door. Pulling himself along with Claudia inside Roy waited until he heard the door close before he separated himself and began to peel off his clothing. After relieving himself of his shirt he looked questionably at his partner, usually he had help and never had to take anything off by himself. Looking into her eye's he shivered, she was glaring at him like he had messed up something not knowing what was wrong he asked, "Something wrong?"

Claudia nodded at Roy's question, she did not want to bring the topic up because it might kill the mood but she figured that it was important and that she had better take care of it now before she forgot about it. Figuring that she would let Roy sweat for a bit to hopefully give her better results she just continued her silent treatment and made her way over to the couch where she sat down.

Roy was puzzled, he had no idea that he had done something to upset Claudia, he followed her over to the couch and sat across from her just incase she was in a really bad mood. Gulping nervously he said, "Honey, whatever I did I'm sorry and I promise I won't do it again."

Claudia gave off a, "Hmmmf" and said, "Do you even know what this is about?"

Roy shook his head indicating that he had no idea.

Claudia sighed and said, "This is about you keeping secrets from me, Roy. I know that you and Nodoka are up to something, I could tell at the restaurant when you took her to the side. At first I thought it was about the new Veritech but when she came back looking happier I knew that there was something up."

Roy sighed as he folded his hands together and looked down at his feet. Without making eye contact he said, "Nodoka knows about the curse."

Outraged Claudia yelled, "WHAT? FOR HOW LONG?"

Still not wanting to make eye contact Roy said, "For a few months now. She wasn't originally planning on coming with us into space. When Dr. Lang found out her reasons he apparently made a request to Captain Gloval whom in turn contacted intelligence. They managed to find Ranma several months ago after he arrived in Nerima." Walking over to a bookshelf Roy pulled out a DVD case and continued, "Intelligence made several recordings of Ranma, they include several examples of his curse in action as well as various battles that he fought." Holding up the case he said, "These DVDs were forwarded to Nodoka and showed her what was happening to her son."

Shaking her head Claudia said, "That still doesn't explain why neither of you has went up to Ranma and told him yet."

Roy sighed and replied, "I'm getting to that. See after finding out Nodoka was going to rush over there and take her son away, but then she realized that Genma had a hold on Ranma that she didn't have just because he has been all Ranma has known for family. She also realized that Genma would attempt to keep Ranma away by telling him about the Seppiku pledge. After sitting down and talking to me about it she decided that it would be best to play along with Genma until she had an opportunity and a means to convince Ranma of the truth and how much she loved him. However, she then found out that Ranma had been locked in his cursed form, after seeing the reports on how Ranma was treated when that happened she decided that she would get him away from that mess first then work on him accepting the curse and after that she decided that she would tell him that she knows."

"That still doesn't explain…"

Roy sighed and said, "Yeah I know. I was against the idea at the beginning, but Nodoka managed to convince me that he needed it and I agree. So she brought Ranma to Macross and I worked with Ranma as well as introduced him to you and Lisa figuring that you would help him in ways that I can't. I was going to tell you right away but then I figured that I should at least wait for a bit to see how Ranma was doing, I figured that pity was the least he needed and that having a few women friends that wouldn't hit him for saying something stupid would be good for him. And it worked, Ranma was all set to tell Nodoka until the aliens arrived and attacked. Since then all of us have been so busy that we simply hadn't had time to discuss it with Ranma."

Claudia had bristled, she did not like being manipulated and viewed Ranma like family. Making her irritation known she said, "That still doesn't explain why you haven't mentioned this before. And another thing, how long do you intend to keep playing this game with Ranma?"

Roy sighed and said, "I don't have an excuse other than that it never appeared to be a good time to mention it to you. As far as when Ranma will find out. Well Nodoka was going to tell Ranma tonight but he brought Lisa along in male form, we decided that it would be best to wait so we didn't embarrass Lisa at the restaurant. But now I'm not so sure about revealing it to Ranma."

Claudia sighed knowing that being angry with Roy wasn't going to get any answers. Looking sternly at him she said, "We will settle your punishment for not being honest with me later. Now I want to know why you think telling Ranma would be a bad idea?"

Roy's shoulders slumped as he sagged back into his seat. Looking at the ceiling he said, "You might not of noticed because you hadn't seen Ranma in a month but I see him every so often when I get a chance but I do have Captain Davis keeping tabs on him." Taking a deep breath Roy continued, "Since the initial alien attack Ranma has begun to withdrawal from people, his demeanor has become colder and more distant. It's partially my fault though; I was forced to billet him down at the flight deck because of his curse. I am afraid that if Nodoka reveals that she had known about the curse that it might cause Ranma to sink further into his depression. I didn't tell Nodoka yet because I didn't want her to worry tonight but I feel that revealing that she knows might hurt and confuse Ranma more if we tell him now."

Claudia sighed she knew it was going to be a long night, making herself more comfortable she said, "How long are you wanting to wait?"

Roy shrugged and said, "Honestly I have no idea. I figure at least until after Ranma starts to get better."

Claudia's eyes sparkled with mischief and she said, "Well, I think I have the perfect idea…"

---------------------------- The next day officer's mess -------

Claudia and Lisa were sitting down having lunch, and talking about Ranma. Lisa had taken the time to tell Claudia about what had the night before and were now attempting to come up with a solution to help Ranma cope a bit better.

Claudia was feeling a bit guilty, she wanted to tell Lisa about what she had found out the night before but after hearing what Lisa had to say she knew that Roy was right and that Ranma needed to come to terms with himself before otherwise revealing the truth might cause him to slip further away. Not to say that when he eventually finds out everything will be peachy, no she wasn't that disillusioned she knew that he would be upset but at the same time it will be easer for him to cope with what will seem like utter betrayal. Masking her emotions behind her usual playful smile she said, "Lisa, I'm proud of you girlfriend, I didn't know you had it in you."

Lisa sighed, "Yeah but now that I know what's going on I'm not so sure?"

Claudia leaned back in her seat and asked, "What's there to be not so sure of?"

Leaning her hand on her fist she said, "Well, after hearing about what's been going on with Ranma a few things make more sense and I'm just worried that I might make matters worse."

Claudia groaned at her friend's wishy-washy ness and said, "Ok, here let me just ask a few questions and wait until I am finished to answer. First of all, do you like Ranma? Secondly, does Ranma like you? Thirdly, is liking Ranma going to have an adverse effect on him? Fourthly, if you were to end this relationship now before it even had a chance to begin, would you regret it, and how do you think Ranma would react?"

Lisa took in a deep breath and replied, "Yes, I like Ranma. I think he likes me, but with him it's hard to gage how much. Even though he did agree to date me, I'm still not sure if he knows what that entails, and given his past it makes me a little weary. I don't think that Liking him is going to have a negative effect, it's just that while I like Ranma I'm still not really completely over Karl. I think that I would regret it if I did end it, and I know from last night that Ranma wouldn't take it that well. I'm just worried that by moving forward with Ranma I might be betraying Karl."

Claudia sighed knowing that she just reached the heart of the issue. Leaning forward she asked, "Do you think that Karl wants you to be happy? Ranma isn't a replacement for Karl; Karl will always be with you in here. (Points to Lisa's heart) Ranma can't replace what you had felt, nor should you expect him too. Ranma is different so what you feel, while it might be love, will be different. If that makes any sense."

----------------- Meanwhile with Ranma -----

Ranma was feeling better than he had in a long time, he could literally feel his confidence swelling back up. His former feelings of loneliness were swiftly being replaced with the fact that somebody wanted to be around him. Ranma was currently in his room doing a few katas in his male form, something that he had not done in a while, waiting for his uncle to come by and get him.

--------------- With Roy ---------

Roy was tired; he had spent the majority of the night talking to Claudia about Ranma. It had not been by his choice and she had been upset but overall he had to say it was worth it, he now had more help to get Ranma out of his funk. Currently Roy was walking around the trainee barracks looking for another stray member of his family, his little brother in spirit, Rick Hunter. Stopping in front of a room Roy depressed the door chime after a few seconds the door opened revealing his little brother.

"Hey Roy."

"You ready to go Rick?"

"Yeah, so where are we going?"

Roy smiled and said, "We're going to go pick up your nephew."

Rick looked at Roy questionably and replied, "MY what? I don't have a nephew."

Roy smacked his forehead with his hand and said, "Don't tell me that you forgot all about my sister?"

Rick racked his brain for a few minutes as they walked towards the flight deck. After a few minutes of silence he said, "Wait, I think I remember now, Nodoka right?"

Roy smacked Rick's back with his hand and said, "See, I knew that you'd remember once you got that rusty piece of junk you call a brain working, must be getting lazy, I'll have to speak to your flight instructor about that."

Rick blanched; he had enough homework as it was.

Seeing Rick's reaction Roy chuckled and said, "Don't worry I was just joking. I really didn't expect you to remember Nodoka; it has been several years since you last saw her. Wait a second, you saw her on launch day and you ran into her shortly afterwards with Minmei, man, maybe I should have that talk with your instructor. Anyway back to the point, she had a son, his names Ranma, he's about your age and we are going to go get him."

Rick nodded and asked, "So where are we going after we pick him up?"

Roy grinned and said, "Well, I figured it's about time I introduce my nephew to the fine arts of playing pool and darts."

---------------- Fifteen minutes later ----------

Ranma's door chime went off signaling that there was someone there, executing a double back flip he called out, "Come in, its open."

Roy paused as he entered the room; Ranma was in the middle of one of his Katas that Roy had not seen before. He was hesitant to disturb Ranma when he was practicing, not because he thought that he was going to distract him, no that wasn't it. It was just that knowing that Ranma had been depressed lately and seeing him with his usual smirk returned to his face made Roy somewhat unwilling to disturb him. Turns out he didn't have to.

Rick had followed Roy into the room at first he was surprised by the size of the room but then he noticed the room's occupant and let out a, "Wooh." There was presumably Roy's nephew dancing through the room giving of a complex series of kicks, punches and flips.

Ranma heard the noise and stopped; coming to attention he gave off a mock salute and said, "Sir, what brings you by?"

Roy grinned, it seemed that whatever had been bothering Ranma had taken a day off, returning Ranma to his more nonchalant care free self. Returning the mock salute he said, "Well I guess you forgot, but yesterday I invited you out to meet my little brother."

Ranma flicked his pigtail behind him and said, "I was kinda distracted. So is this him?"

Roy stepped to the side allowing Ranma and Rick to see each other better and said, "Yep, Ranma meet Rick, Rick meet Ranma my nephew."

Ranma stared at the young man and said, "So Rick huh. You look kind of familiar."

Roy knew where Ranma had seen Rick before but was hesitant to bring it up but in the end decided that he might as well get it over with. Clearing his throat he said, "Well you two have met before but not officially."

"Huh."

Roy sighed and said, "Rick, Ranma, remember launch day. Ranma you were standing in front of a Veritech, there was a guy walking with me and your mom."

"Oh."

Looking at his watch Roy noticed the time and said, "Well guy's if we are going to beat the crowd we should be going."

Ranma straitened out his clothes with his hands and said, "Well, I'm ready. So where are we going?"

-------------------------------- Later ---------

Ranma relaxed into his couch, he had just returned from the pool hall. It had been an interesting experience; he had dominated in darts and left many people wondering how it was possible for a plastic tipped dart to cut through the middle of another dart. However Ranma did learn a valuable lesson, and that was that he totally sucked at pool. For the most part, Ranma had fun though, and just like his Uncle had suspected the two got along fairly well.

------------- A few day's later --------

Since arriving in space Rick Hunter had been kept fairly busy, with the exception of his fist several days' on board but that was more because he had been lost rather than a lack of activities. Now however he was faced with some time off and he knew just where he wanted to go.

---------------

Minmei had been having a busy week; working at the restaurant plus preparing for the upcoming Miss Macross pageant had kept her fairly active. To add to that, she had started exercising in the mornings to get in better shape, she had wanted to ask Ranma if he would train her some but decided against it and just settled for basic fitness. That was part of her new found plan for her life, while she still wanted to be an entertainer she also felt that it was important to do ones duty, something she had picked up from Ranma. When she thought about it she realized that if it had not been for Ranma she would still be striving towards her primary goal and not doing anything else but waitressing. She knew that she was still young but Ranma was just a little over a year older than her and he was already in the RDF. She wasn't in a hurry to join up but figured that not knowing how long the war was going to last, she might very well be needed to protect her home and she would make sure that she was ready.

Currently she had a few hours until the dinner shift started and was looking forward to do a little shopping in preparation for the pageant. Taking a step out of the door of the White Dragon she literally ran into someone that she had been looking forward to seeing for a while. After picking herself off of the ground she smiled and said, "Rick, I'm so glad to see you."

Rick brushed himself off as he rose from the ground and shyly said, "Really?"

Minmei nodded and replied, "Yes, I never got to thank you for keeping me safe before."

Rick blushed, scratched the back of his head nervously and said, "It's no big deal, and anyone would have done it in my place."

Minmei smiled and said, "Well anyone didn't, you did." Grabbing Rick's arm she said, "Come on, I only have a few hours until I have to work again."

Blushing from his close contact with Minmei Rick managed to squeak out, "Where are we going?"

Minmie called over her shoulder as she began to pull Rick along, "Shopping, I need a new swimsuit."

------------ A few hours before on the bridge ----------

Claudia cornered Lisa on the bridge, it had taken her some time but she could hardly pass up a chance to tease her friend. She asked, "Are you taking Ranma shopping today?"

Lisa attempted to look puzzled, she had been avoiding Claudia knowing that today was the day they had set at dinner a few nights ago for Larry and Nodoka to take Ranko/Ranma shopping. It wasn't that she was upset with her friend, no she just knew that after discussing what had happened a few day's ago with her friend that she was in for one heck of a teasing and was doing everything within her power to avoid it. Quietly she hissed out, "Not so loud, someone might hear us."

Several feet away Sammie had been looking over the readouts from the various ship systems when she heard Lisa's warning to Claudia. Her interest perked with the promise of grade a gossip in mind she quieted herself as best she could in an attempt to ease drop.

Claudia smirked and said, "Why, are you ashamed of your girlfriend?"

Sammie was forced to withhold a gasp as she heard girlfriend.

Lisa blushed and replied, "You know it's not like that?"

Claudia leaned forward and said, "But you are going out with her and picking out her clothes. I wish Roy would do that for me." She added absentmindedly.

They were silent for a minute before Claudia said, "You know, that's not that bad of an idea. I wonder if Ranma has any of those instant girl packets."

Lisa sighed and said, "No, Ranma only has the packets that will turn girls into guys. I doubt that you would want to go out with Roy as another guy."

Claudia nodded to that and said, "True but it would be useful incase I ever wanted to spy on him."

Sammie wasn't sure of what to make of the conversation she was overhearing. It seemed impossible but the two-senor officers were talking like it was completely possible. Well her shift was over at the same time that Commander Hayes was so she decided that she would follow her to find out."

-------------- Later that day -------

Lisa had arrived at Ranma's flight deck quarters, because he was still living there for a few more days until the new barracks were completed. After a brief visit they both changed and made their way into Macross City. Ranma was wearing a short black skirt that fell down to just above her knees, along with a white halter-top that showed off a fair amount of cleavage. Lisa was wearing a loose pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Unknown to either of them as they made their way into the city a surprised redheaded ensign followed in the distance.

----------------

Nodoka waited at one of the many parks that they had built in to Macross city, for her child and Lisa. She was going to meet them at this park before they all went shopping because it was close to downtown. As she waited she thought, "_I wish that Roy would let me tell Ranma that I know about the curse. But he wants to wait until he is positive that Ranma is doing better. I understand his reasoning, if we tell him now he will probably sink back into that depression he was in until a few nights ago."_

With a sigh she continued, "_I should of just came clean from the start, then I could have avoided this entire fiasco. I can't help but think that this has been one giant mistake after another. At first I was only going to wait until he felt comfortable enough to tell me on his own. Then when that finally happens I acted like a fool and missed the opportunity to tell him after I realized that he had lost his nerve. Then I got so wrapped up with work that I ignored him for an entire month. If I wasn't 'such' a crappy mother I would of said something the day I ran into him at the waterfront. But no I had to be stubborn and foolish. Look where it's gotten me. I am now taking my son as my niece shopping for clothes for a beauty contest and to top that off I have his girlfriend posing as his escort all in an attempt to keep the lie hidden. This is absolutely insane, I just want my son back and now I have to jump through hoops so I don't damage our relationship. That is of course if we still even have a relationship when this whole mess becomes unraveled."_

---------------- A little while later ----

Ranma had been dreading this day with some trepidation, it wasn't that he currently she was uncomfortable in her female form, in fact due to recent events her current body had become a retreat from her problems that she faces whenever he looks in a mirror in his normal form. It was more that she felt that she was becoming almost too comfortable and it was scary. She liked being a guy but it disturbed her how much she enjoyed being around Lisa when she is a guy. Originally that opinion was based just off of her somewhat hazy memories from the restaurant and then the nightclub afterwards. She felt that something else happened after that but Lisa wouldn't tell her, she had taken that as a mixed blessing, on one hand she might of done something that she might of regretted, on the other hand she might not have done anything but sleep like Lisa had said. Regardless of either situation was that Ranma was enjoying herself as she walked with Lisa's large masculine hand in her own and it was disturbing her on a few levels.

As Ranma walked along she was looking at almost everyone they came across to test her. Basically what she was looking for was anyone else that she felt attracted to. Normally Ranma would never consider doing this but the feelings she was experiencing were beginning to get to her. She thought, "_Ok, I know I am attracted to women, I'll admit that. I know that most of the guy's back in Nerima envy me for my fiancées. I know that they are attractive too, it's just I could never really see my self as lucky given the situation I was in. With the exceptions of magical items and amnesia I don't remember finding any of the idiots attractive."_

After looking up and down the street Ranma continued, "_Ok, I see several cute girls around here, but none of the guy's are worth a second glance. Grr. This is stupid. I'm walking down the street looking at other women when Lisa is nice enough to help me out with my mother. I should be ashamed of myself, maybe I am the pervert that everyone always said I was."_

Lisa frowned as he looked over at Ranma; she seemed to be thinking about something that was disturbing her. Looking back into her memories Lisa reminder himself what Karl would do in this situation. After freeing his hand from Ranma's he went and placed his arm around the smaller girls shoulder and said, "Hey, cheer up. I told you that I'd help you and I meant it."

Ranma sighed as she came out of her musings. Looking up at her girlfriend turned boyfriend she blushed and noticed a warming sensation in her chest caused by their increased proximity. Looking into Lisa's deep brown eye's Ranma could not help herself as she felt the sensation increase ever so slightly. Thinking that she needed to respond she said, "It's not that, it's just…"

Lisa chose to cut Ranma off by pulling her closer so that now their bodies were pressed firmly against each other. After giving a comforting squeeze he said, "Ranma, what ever it is it will be ok, I promise."

As they continued walking Ranma was forced to put her arm around Lisa's waist in an effort to remain comfortable as they walked. As they continued onward she thought, "_Wooh, this is kind of nice and comfortable."_

------------------ At the store ----

Lisa and Ranma had stopped by the park and picked up Nodoka, the three of them managed to make their way to the store. Once inside Ranma had taken notice that Lisa seemed to be a bit uncomfortable standing around bins of women's unmentionables. That surprised Ranma because the few times that Lisa and Claudia had taken her shopping it was always Ranma that had been uncomfortable. Ranma took it in stride though and determined that she was going to get a little payback for all the teasing she had to endure last time she went. Forgetting that her mother was there she went over to a few racks that had swimsuits and picked out the skimpiest one she could find. After that she strode back up to the man and asked, "Say Larry, how do you think this would look on me?"

Lisa was nervous and she wasn't sure why. She had been in several of these types of shops in her life and never really gave it a second thought but now as a guy she was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable. When Ranma had wondered off and started browsing he had felt relieved, that is until Ranma came back carrying the smallest two-piece on the ship and asked her how it would look on her. Taking in a deep breath Lisa considered his options, he could say great but didn't want to come across as eager, or he could play it off and attempt to get her to pick out one that offered a little more coverage. However, even after seeing Ranma naked he wanted to know what she looked like in that suit. Deciding to go a different route Lisa said, "Hmm, I don't know, I think I need to see it on you for me to make a better opinion."

Ranma frowned inwardly; she failed to get a reaction she wondered briefly if she was doing something wrong. Deciding that she was going to get some type of reaction she said, "Okay, come wait over by the changing rooms while I try this on."

Nodoka was confused; Seeing Ranma flirting with Lisa was weird when she considered that Lisa was pretending to be a guy. She didn't think that Ranma liked guys like that, but was not going to judge her child.

Rick was standing in the area of the changing rooms waiting for Minmei to try on her clothes, she had forgotten her money back at the restaurant so he had offered to pay for what ever she bought until she got home. Currently he had his wallet out and was counting his money to see how much he had.

Sammie had followed the two people that had left the quarters on the flight deck into the store. She could see that the man had an uncanny resemblance to Lisa, looking like a twin brother and from what she had seen of pilot Saotome, the girl looked a lot like him. Deciding that she needed to get a closer look to see, she crept along the wall to the changing room.

Nodoka noticed a young redheaded girl creeping along the wall of the changing rooms. Thinking that here was something wrong she went up to her and asked, "Is there something wrong young lady?"

Sammie was caught surprised; her mission had been consuming her so completely that she forgot about her surroundings. When an the older auburn haired woman that had been accompanying the couple she believed to be Ranma and Lisa came over, she thought her cover was blown. Caught like a child's hand in the cookie jar she nervously replied, "Uh, no nothing's wrong miss. Hey look what's that behind you?" That said Sammie turned to make a run for it when she slammed into a young man.

Rick swore under his breath as he fell on the floor and his wallet went flying into the stalls. Ignoring the woman whom had landed on top of him he started to crawl towards his wallet ignoring everything else.

Sammie tried to apologize after she landed on the floor but was quickly distracted by the man who helped her up. She gasped, "Sorry Commander, um I need to get going."

Lisa was surprised to see Sammie at the shop and even more so after he reached down and helped her up when he heard her call him commander. He was in shock and barely noticed when the young redhead bolted for the door.

Rick stopped as his wallet was now within his grasp, reaching for it he finally took stock of his surroundings, wallet in front of him on the floor check, foot within six inches of wallet check, foot connected to leg check, leg connected to half naked redhead wearing nothing but a small lacey pair of panties check, as the last check came through his mind Rick could only think, "_Oh, shit."_

Ranma had just gotten into the booth and started to undress so she could try on the swimsuit when she noticed a figure appearing below her. She recognized the young man as Rick Hunter the fellow her uncle had introduced her to a few days ago. She stood there in shock, she wasn't sure on what to do, if this had been Nerima she would of hauled off and clobbered him for being a pervert but this was not Nerima and she didn't know how to respond. Her inactiveness lasted until Rick started to drool that made her remember that when all else fails do what ever comes natural. In this case Ranma decided that a feminine cry of outrage was in order so taking in a deep breath she screamed, "PERVERT."

Lisa had been standing in shock of Sammie recognizing him when he heard Ranma cry out, thinking that Ranma was in danger he rushed over to the changing rooms to see a body halfway under the door to the stall. Kicking with his foot he forced the door open to reveal a nearly naked Ranma standing attempting to cover herself while some guy ogled her from the ground. Reaching down he grabbed a hold of the guy's shirt and forced him onto his feet and slammed him up against the wall. Briefly he considered what Karl would do and thought, "_Okay, Karl was a peaceful man who really did not like violence what would he do in this situation_." Mentally nodding he thought, "_Of course, the answer is simple. He'd kick the crap out of this guy for peeping on his woman."_

However before Lisa could do anything drastic a frantic Minmei appeared and said, "Please don't hurt him, I'm sure this is just a big misunderstanding."

Lisa looked down into Minmei's pleading eyes slowly releasing his hold on Rick he growled, "Just this once for you Minmei. But if I catch this guy peeping again he'll be in a lot more trouble."

Minmie lurched forward giving a surprised Lisa a hug and said, "Thank you." Minmei then turned her attention to Rick and said, "I think that you should apologize to Ranko."

Rick turned his attention to the still partially naked redhead in the stall and started to say, "Listen, I'm sorry. I was just trying to find my wallet and it…"

Cutting Rick off Ranma barked out, "Fine, what ever. Do you mind if I get dressed?"

Minmie was the first to react and pulled Rick away before anything else could happen. Lisa however lagged behind a few more seconds so he could give Ranma a quick once over.

-------------------- 15 days later -------

Ranma sighed as he exited his Veritech; while he was thankful that he had yet to encounter anymore-enemy patrols he was getting worried. He had been to the briefings and knew that there were around a million enemy ships in the solar system looking for them and knew that the relative piece that had sprouted up was not going to last much longer. He also knew that the command staff was doing everything in their power to keep the war at bay at the moment hoping to buy enough time for all the new recruits to get some much needed training as well as giving engineering extra time to give their forces any possible advantage they could.

For that reason the SDF-1 had been rigged for silent running, that meant earlier curfews, minimal radio chatter as well as all the running lights on the outside of the SDF-1 had been turned off and with the exception of the bridge's main window all the others were covered over. Of course the recently rebuilt city of Macross was the exception; it was part of the decision to build it so deep within the ship as it would be shielded by many layers of metal as well offer better protection against both standard radiation and electromagnetic radiation, materials courtesy of the captured vessel.

However running silent also meant that it was now fairly difficult to come in for a landing as all landings were to be done silently and with no lights to guide them in, it had so far managed to cause more than one mishap. Though there had yet to be any deaths and Ranma was thankful for that.

Ranma had been doing fairly well as of late, Lisa had been doing a good job of keeping him from dwelling on there earlier happenings of the war as well as providing him some much needed distraction. They had gone out a few times when Lisa's schedule agreed with his own other wise they would just meet at Ranma's for a little bit to just hang out. However, he had yet to go out with her where he was a guy and neither had Lisa with the exception of that first night. The second time, though it was their first real date, it had been awkward for him. However that night after about twenty minutes or so Ranma herself managed to wrok through the problem.

--------- Flashback

Lisa sighed, ever since she had picked up Ranma for their date, Ranma had been acting weird. When she had picked her up she had gotten the door for her and waited for Ranma to exit figuring that it was polite and what Karl would have done. Needless to say she was slightly shocked to see Ranma frowning instead of her usual smile.

It continued once they were at the restaurant, they were at a nice Italian restraint that kept its lights dimmed low as to offer there customers a small bit of privacy. There was relaxing classical music being softly pumped through the restaurants speakers. Having discussed with Ranma the menu already, Lisa knew what she was going to order so thinking back she remembered that Karl used to always order for her whenever they had a chance to get out Lisa did the same. Once again she noticed a slight frown mar Ranma's features. Not understanding what was wrong she reached her hand across the table and took Ranma's hand into her own, causing Ranma to flinch somewhat. Frowning to match her counterpart she asked, "What's wrong?"

Ranma sighed and replied, "It's nothing."

Not being fooled so easily, she grasped Ranma's hand harder, gave it a slight squeeze and said, "Look, I know something has been bothering you since I picked you up. I'm your friend and the last thing I want to do is force you into something but for this to work I need to know when there is something wrong."

Ranma took a deep breath, attempting to delay her explanation. Truth be told she wasn't completely certain on what was wrong either, it had just been nagging her in the far corners of her mind ever since the night Roy invited them out for his promotion. Oh she had a vague idea but was worried that her best friend and new girl friend would get upset and leave her and she did not want that to happen. Releasing her breath in an attempt to relieve some of her tension she started, "It's just that… I don't know I just feel like… I don't know…" Giving off a frustrated sigh she continued, "I guess I just feel awkward, if that makes any sense."

Taking a moment to stare into Ranma's vibrant blue eyes Lisa said, "Why don't you start at the beginning and take it from there."

Ranma fidgeted in her seat and replied, "When you went as Larry last week to uncle Roy's dinner I had fun and was able to relax and enjoy myself for the most part, even though you went as a guy and I was the girl. I mean, I did things that night that I would of never done with a guy, even though you really are a girl. It's just ever since that night, I've been confused."

After allowing that to sink in Lisa replied, "But I'm not a guy now."

Shuffling some more in her seat Ranma said, "No, but that's just it."

Raising an eyebrow Lisa asked, "So do you want to go back to your room so I can change?"

Shaking her head Ranma said, "No, err… it's just that, that night after thinking back on it I really didn't think of you as a guy. But then when we went shopping and you looked so out of place like how I usually did before then that incident with Rick happened and I screamed."

Not taking her eyes away from Ranma she said, "So, let me get this strait. At first you only saw me as a woman until we went shopping but then you started to see me more like a guy? Or are you worried about the fact that you didn't feel out of place and that instead of lashing out when Rick wandered into your stall you screamed?"

Ranma sighed again and answered softly, "A little of both actually."

Wanting to alleviate Ranma's fears Lisa said, "Ranma I know you are a guy, even when you are wearing that body I can tell that you are acting even if it is barely noticeable. Anything you do that is feminine you borrow from others, your mannerisms, posture. I'll admit sometimes you can act a bit overly feminine to where it seems natural and I think to a point that it is. What you have to realize that with your situation, it can be expected. I don't think that you would go guy crazy or even want to be overly intimate with a guy. I know that we have kissed and stuff when I was pretending to be Larry but I think that deep down you knew that it was me and I am a woman so you didn't mind. To be truthful I am not sure if I'd ever want to do that as a guy."

Blushing and shifting awkwardly in her seat she continued, "I mean while you were still asleep I went into the washroom and experimented a bit, but I really don't know if truly experiencing 'that' is something I'd want to do." Taking in another breath she continued, "To be honest, I'm not really sure on how to act with you. I guess when it comes down to it, I am probably just as confused as you, though I don't have any first hand experience in going out with someone who is actually a guy, but has the ability to turn himself physically into a girl."

Ranma wanted to snap her fingers, now she knew what had been eating away at her, instead though she smiled softly and said, "That's just it, you don't have any real first hand experience and your treating me like you're the guy. I don't think I mind when you are Larry so much but now that we are both girls, it just doesn't feel like you."

Lisa was surprised, she really didn't think about that. Not truly sure on what to say she said, "But I don't know what to do when we are both girls or even when it's just you, I have just been remembering what Karl would do, and basing my behavior off of what I think he would of done."

Ranma smiled, it was weird but she was honored that Lisa would do that for her, but at the same time she was dating Lisa, not Karl, and knew that she needed Lisa to be herself. Voicing her thoughts she said, "As honored as I am that you would do that, I really just need you to be you. This is kind of weird for the both of us, but I'm dating you not Karl."

Thinking it over, Lisa wasn't so shocked to hear Ranma say that, it made sense. Ranma had been spending a lot of time pretending to be someone else so naturally she should be able to spot it when someone is acting like someone else. Deciding that even though she didn't know how to be a girlfriend to another girl she asked, "So what do we do? Because I really enjoy going out with you."

"Ranma shrugged and replied, "I don't know never been another girls girlfriend, but I figure since you have been helping me, we can do this together."

Lisa smiled, she knew that Ranma was having a lot of problems as of late, that there were times he/she was clueless and sometimes put her foot in her mouth, but she had moments to where she says the right thing out of the blue, though this was the first time that she felt she had to do something.

Ranma watched worriedly as Lisa got up out of her seat. Her concern turned into confusion as she watched Lisa slide in next to her that then turned into surprise when the older girl pulled her close and gave her an earth-shattering kiss.

After that Ranma had been able to relax a bit more. Though she was still a little confused, it was no longer making her uncomfortable.

End flashback

After Ranma stored his flight gear he started to make his way over to Captain Davis's office. He was told to meet with him earlier that day as soon as he got off of patrol. Ranma had a soft spot for the man; he always treated Ranma fairly and actually listened to him. It had taken a while for that soft spot to show itself in Ranma's case, but it was mostly due to Lisa. As he thought about it, Lisa was a changing force in Ranma's life, in the short time that they had been dating, he had come to think that he was not as alone as what he had thought. Though he still had some reservations about Uncle Roy and Claudia.

For the most part though, things had been looking up. He was feeling better about himself everyday and he even was able to lay off of totally relying on the soul of ice to get him through his time as himself. There were also times where he had actually taken Gary up on his offer and went into town for a little r/r, sure he might of preferred spending the time with Lisa, but if she was on duty he wasn't left alone to dwell.

He even was beginning to build a friendship with his Uncle's honorary brother, Rick hunter. At first after the whole incident at the store, Ranma wasn't even willing to consider it, but Lisa had convinced him that it was an accident. After thinking back to his time in Nerima, he realized that he wasn't being fair; after all he had wound up in several compromising situations similar enough. Besides Rick didn't even know about the curse.

His change of heart didn't exactly happen over night though; it had taken a few times of hanging out with Gary that Ranma had run into Rick at the pool hall. At first he was simply set on just letting Rick be, but Gary had other ideas and asked him to shoot darts with them. So Ranma had shot darts with Rick and Gary and the night had progressed fairly well and to Ranma's surprise Rick had decided to tell them about a shopping trip he had had. At first Ranma thought that he was going to brag about seeing his female form naked and was about to clobber him until he realized he still didn't know.

The story from Rick's point of view was somewhat surprising to Ranma, not once did he go into detail about what he saw instead he focused on the events leading to the situation, though he did add that she was incredibly hot at the end. Though surprisingly after hearing the tale from his point of view, Ranma couldn't begrudge him on it, plus deep down he did have a measure of vanity as far as his girl side was concerned.

Arriving at the door to Captain Davis's office Ranma knocked sharply waiting for permission to enter. After standing outside for a minute he was granted access. Stepping through the door and standing in front of the desk Ranma snapped to attention, saluted and said, "Lt. Ranma Saotome reporting as ordered, Sir."

"At ease Ranma, take a seat."

Following the orders Ranma sat down with his hands over his knees and waited to be addressed.

Captain Davis noticing that Ranma was sitting in a modified attention position urged Ranma, "Though I am glad that you paid attention to your training you can relax, this isn't an inquisition or anything."

Sighing in relief Ranma said, "Thanks Sir, for a moment I thought I did something wrong."

Chuckling Davis replied, "No, nothing of the sort. I called you into my office to tell you that I have been impressed with you of late, I was worried about you at first but now you do seem to be doing better."

Ranma wasn't surprised at the captain's words; they had had more than a few talks since he had been posted to black squadron. For the most part they always consisted of how Ranma was adjusting though Ranma had been stonewalling him, not wanting to get into his personal life. If not for the efforts of Lisa, he might of continued doing so but in the ten days that they had been officially going out she had managed to convince him otherwise.

Not wanting to seem like he was ignoring the captain Ranma smiled slightly and said, "Thank you sir, I guess I was kind of in a slump for awhile."

Captain Davis nodded and said, "You're a good kid Ranma, and you are shaping into a great pilot. Must run in the family or something." Sobering up for a moment he grinned and continued, "I'm gonna miss having you in my squadron."

Ranma was taken aback, he wondered briefly if he was being sidelined. He thought, "_I know he knows that I don't like killing_,_ but it is necessary to keep my mother and Lisa safe. He can't do this, I bet Uncle Roy had something to do with this." _His thoughts taking a darker turn he continued, "_He probably thinks his weapon is broken or something_,_ and until we re-engage the enemy I'll probably stay side lined until they need me again."_

Noticing Ranma's face darken Captain Davis held up his hand and said, "Now wait a minute Ranma, let me finish."

Jerking his head back up Ranma did his best to calm himself down as he waited for the Captain to continue.

Clearing his throat Captain Davis went on to say, "As I was saying, I, as well as your fellow squad mates are going to mis you. But I truly believe you will be satisfied where you are going, I don't have all the details, but from what I've heard, you are well suited for this position. Any questions?"

Ranma sat there silently for a few seconds running the captains words through his head, wanting to know more he asked, "Sir, what can you tell me about my new posting?"

Grinning slightly he replied, "Nothing, for further detail you are to report to Colonel Fokker. Actually you're running a bit late."

Ranma blinked and said, "Now? Where am I supposed to meet him?"

Getting up from his seat and walking over to the door he opened it and said, "At his new office on Flight deck 5, it's the one that was just finished being installed. I suggest you get a move on it as it takes awhile to get there."

------------- Ten minutes later -----

DING

"Come in."

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Ranma replied gruffly.

Roy smiled at his nephew and said, "Yeah, come in and sit down for a sec."

Ranma shrugged and said, "Okay."

After Ranma had taken a seat he cleared his throat and said, "Well to start off you are out of uniform."

Ranma checked over himself and made sure that everything was where it was supposed to be. Not seeing anything wrong with his uniform he asked, "Huh, what do you mean, sir?"

Roy grinned and tossed a small case at Ranma, that he caught effortlessly, and said, "Congratulations, First lieutenant Saotome."

Ranma opened the box and sure enough it had first Lieutenant bars in it. Puzzled he asked, "What's this for?"

Roy shrugged and said, "Actually you were supposed to be offered this commission when you signed up but I wanted to make sure you were sufficiently trained before I gave it to you. That's why I had you taking leadership courses with Captain Davis; of course I decided I would rather let it be a surprise than tell you back then. Oh, one more thing." Roy flipped through his desk for a few seconds, picking up two file folders he slid them across the desk and said, "You might want to look those over."

Ranma opened the two files and noticed that they were personnel files for Rick and Gary, not knowing what was going on he asked, "Why are you giving me Gary and Rick's Files?"

Roy's grin widened and he said, "Well as a group leader you need a group. Lt. Mitchell has been waiting for a veritech, and Rick just graduated from flight school. I decided that I'd give you a small command and see how you do, besides most of the guy's are expecting me to do this for you given your past experience."

Ranma shrugged he was still a little weary of being rewarded for being efficient but Lisa had been working on him so he nodded and replied, "So does this mean that I got a bird or am I still going to use the VT-TR that I have been using?"

Roy got up from his desk and said, "Well that's some more good news. If you will follow me I'll show you."

Ranma follow his uncle into the actual flight bay section of the bay. Turning a corner he stopped in surprise.

Roy noticing that his nephew had stopped turned around and approached him. Resting his hand on Ranma's shoulder he said, "She's a beauty isn't she? Black body with gray trim, making the bird harder to see in the darkness of space. She has all the latest upgrades, including dual plasma pulse laser arrays that contain twice the amount of kick as its predecessor. Its body is self-repairing, just like the enemy ships. Has two packs of the modified for space sidewinder x4 reflex missile. As well as two larger x3 Headhunter missiles that contain enough kick to take out smaller support craft. Standard GU-12 with extra clip and to top all that out, she comes with the new tactical multi lock targeting system.

Not totally sure on his own feelings Ranma stood there silently thinking, "_This is the new VFx-2 hybrid, Uncle Roy is the only one with one right now. I didn't even know that they made more than one, how did I wind up with one?" _Ranma's darker thoughts that had been receding as of late ventured to the forefront of his mind as he continued glumly, "_It's because I'm a weapon, they figure if I get one of these then I can just do that more damage when the time comes." _

Roy noticing that his nephew seemed to freeze up gave his shoulder a slight squeeze and continued; "Starting tomorrow your group will be taking daily three hour patrols. I want you to put Rick and Gary through the paces, because they are also receiving the newer models. While I have already tested the model out and deemed it impressive, these birds have yet to be battle tested."

Putting aside his doubts for the moment Ranma focused in on his Uncle and asked, "Colonel…" Holding out his arm to point at the bird, he continued, "Isn't this a bit too much. I mean first a promotion, then a new Bird and not just any but the new prototype. And now my own group?"

Sighing Roy countered, "Ranma, when we are alone like this you can call me Roy or Uncle, though I prefer Roy. As far as everything else goes, we had a lot of casualties in the first two encounters. A lot of good men did not return, this left me with filling the ranks with a lot of officers that have average skill. Then there is the recent influx of raw recruits coming in on an almost daily basis. SO basically what I need is skilled officers out there in charge, ones that can make split decisions and are going to be an inspiration to their squadrons. Unfortunately, there are not as many as what I'd like to have going into combat. Now that brings me to you, you are highly skilled. Though you have less experience, the men look up to you. You inspire them and they will not hold this promotion or command against you. That is part of the reason that I chose Rick and Gary to be in your squad, both of them are exceptional pilots though, once Rick settles in he should be giving you some competition out there performance wise."

Sighing he continued, "Then there is the fact that these are new prototypes designed to be all around better, and whom better to help me test these babies out than three talented rookie pilots? If all goes well then engineering will start to streamline the new model and start making it available to squadron leaders and group leaders as well as those up and coming aces fresh out of the academy."

Not really felling better Ranma plastered on a smile and grinned. "Thanks uncle Roy, I was worried for a minute that some of the others might see this as favoritism. So what's the call sign for my group?"

Roy grinned in relief and responded, "Well, I figured that since the colors of your bird's are somewhat space camouflaged I decided that your call sign is Ghost Group. So you are ghost one."

Ranma nodded. "So when do I meet up with the rest of the team?"

"Follow me and I'll show you to your briefing room and office. I scheduled an official meeting for you tomorrow morning at 0900 hours because I know you have plans with Lisa tonight. You are scheduled for patrol at 1200 hours so that will give you three hours to brief your team and introduce them to their birds which should be next to yours later today."

Later that same day Ranma was almost to his quarters. His plans with Lisa were two fold that night, they were going to meet up with his mother under the guise of Ranko and Larry to go over what Ranma should do for her talent in the Miss Macross Pageant, then once they finished with deciding what she was going to do Larry/Lisa was going to help him/her pack in preparations for his move to the new barracks, that was going to occur after he finished with patrol the next day.

Once he reached his room, Ranma entered swiftly noticing that Lisa was already Larry. Making his way into the kitchen Ranma doused himself with cold water before re-entering the main room and glumly sitting down next to her girlfriend/currently boyfriend.

"Ranma, what's wrong?"

Sighing Ranma leaned up against Lisa and said, "Nothing, I guess I'm a little tired, that's all."

"Want me to call your mom and reschedule?" Lisa asked as he unconsciously moved his arm around Ranma giving her a soft squeeze out of concern."

Leaning back a bit Ranma sighed again, shaking her head she replied, "No, uhm actually, I don't really feel like going out though maybe she can come here."

Staring down at the top of Ranma's head Lisa leaned forward and gave her a light peck and asked, "Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Thinking back about what could of changed Ranma's mood so drastically between now and the time that she had gotten off of patrol Lisa asked, "Did something happen?"

Ranma leaned further into Lisa letting the neo mans warmth wash into her and said, "No, nothing happened… Maybe I'm coming down with something, I just don't feel so good right now."

Lisa frowned in concern as he used his arm to gently stroke Ranma's arm. Disengaging herself she said, "I'll go call Nodoka, you need to change into something a bit more feminine than an overlarge flight suit."

Ranma perked up a bit and half heartily teased, while cupping her breasts, "These not feminine enough for you."

Lisa's concern wavered, she felt that if Ranma could crack a joke then there must not be anything overly wrong with her and must be telling the truth that she was just feeling a bit under the weather.

------------ Meanwhile on board Breetai's ship ------

"Exedore, have our scans located Zor's ship?"

"No, Lord Breetai. The micronians are still hiding."

Breetai rubbed his chin and said, "Perhaps they are hiding behind a planet to escape our sensors."

"This would be most troublesome, that would mean that they are better versed in space warfare and the functions of Zor's ship than we previously thought."

After remaining silent for a minute Breetai said, "Exedore, I want a groups of no less than five ships to fold near every planetary body in this system. Have several vessels search through the asteroid belt."

Understanding Breetai's plan, Exedore said, "That's a brilliant plan lord Breetai, I shall begin preparations immediately."

Well I attempted to re-write this a few times and this is what I came up with.

I think that I had to have Ranma feeling better but by the end I am showing that there is still work need to be done. Hopefully this will continue until the planned blow up that he has during the miss macross pageant. Basically I was hoping to show a somewhat depressed and confused Ranma while showing somewhat of an improvement and unconscious acceptance in regards to him and lisa.

Also I don't have any idea on what his Miss Macross talents are going to be. Any suggestions are welcome.

Don't worry there will be plenty of action in the next chapter.

Oh I also started a new story it's a Harry potter stargate sg1 crossover


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks to James Axelrad for proof reading as well as correcting my use of navy slang as the only version I know is army slang and it's a bit different.

Feel free to review and let me know your opnions, I appreciate them as they let me know what I'm doing wrong so I can make this a better story. Because frankly this is my favorite one that I am currently writing and I intend to keep pecking at it.

Some time this week, depending on when I send them off to James I will be posting another chapter of reconstructing oneself and festival.

This chapter takes place immediately after the last chapter.

123454321

As Lisa got off of the couch to call Nodoka, Ranma let out a sigh and went over to her closet to see what she had to wear. She immediately disregarded the few skirts and dresses she had because it was always a bit on the chilly side this close to the main flight deck. Letting out a frustrated growl she reached into her pack to see if there was anything in there that she could wear. Turning it over and dumping the contents out she began to sort through the pile as she stuffed her male clothes back in it. It had only taken a few moments but it soon began to be apparent that she had nothing that was really comfortable to lounge in besides her Chinese silks and it was a bit too chilly for her to wear them.

By this time she was starting to get irritated, she knew she could just throw on a skirt and a t-shirt and be done with it but she wanted to be a bit more comfortable and not have to wrap a blanket around herself to keep warm, like she usually does. Wanting to clear her head a bit she went into the bathroom to splash some water on her face hoping that that would help a bit to ease the tension she was feeling.

On her way across the room to the bathroom Ranma noticed Lisa looking at her with concern, wanting to reassure her current 'boyfriend' that there was nothing wrong she shot him a small smile before stepping into the bathroom and closing the door. Tuning on the water, making sure that it wasn't warm enough to change her gender she splashed herself a few times before stepping back to lean on the wall to lose herself in her thoughts.

"_Why did Uncle Roy have to chose today to dump that on me? It's not like it couldn't wait until tomorrow. Maybe I should tell Lisa about it after all, she said she wanted to help me and she has been doing a good job at it. No, that wouldn't be fair to her, she has been so patient with helping me get through my other issues that I don't want to ask any more from her than is necessary. If I do she might get mad at me or something and I don't know if I can deal with that."_

As she reached forward to turn off the water she spied out f the corner of her eye a small bundle of clothes on the shelf. Getting a closer look she noticed that they were Lisa's and realized that they must have been what she wore over before she changed. Thinking that Lisa wouldn't mind if she borrowed them but not one hundred percent clear she cracked the door open and called out, "Hey Lisa?"

"Yeah"

"There's a sweat shirt and jeans in here."

"Yeah, I wore them over before I changed."

Nodding to herself she continued, "Is it alright if I borrow them, I can't find any of my jeans or sweatshirts."

"Uhm, go ahead. I think that you might of left some clothes at my place, I'll look for them tomorrow."

After peeling off the ill-fitting flight suit Ranma started to pull on Lisa's sweatshirt, but paused briefly as her senses were assaulted with Lisa's scent. She allowed herself a moment to enjoy it before pulling it on the rest of the way. Looking in the mirror she smiled a bit at herself realizing that it was comfortable and fairly long on her to where she could only see the bottom legs of her boxers. Realizing that she needed to change out of her boxers because the jeans that she was borrowing would cause her boxers to bunch up and be a little uncomfortable she made her way out of the bathroom towards her dresser.

Lisa having just got off of the phone noticed Ranma leaving the bathroom, stealthily creeping up behind Ranma he grabbed the redhead in a warm embrace before taking his hands under the sweatshirt to tickle Ranma causing her to squirm.

Ranma had noticed Lisa creeping up on her and had decided to play along but was caught unprepared when Lisa started to tickle her. Attempting to stifle her giggles Ranma pleaded, "Stop it, I got to get changed before my mom gets here."

Glancing over at the wall clock Lisa shrugged as he intensified his actions before saying, "She's running late so we have about an hour before she gets here."

Ranma knew that she could break out of Lisa's hold at any given time but was enjoying the distraction from her earlier thoughts, so she decided to play back.

Lisa was almost caught unaware when Ranma let her legs go limp but managed to catch himself before gravity had a chance to claim them. Sweeping Ranma into his arms he looked down at her and teased, "I didn't know that I had that effect on you."

Blinking playfully Ranma questioned, "Oh, and what effect is that?"

Lisa grinned as he position his hands to resume his attack and replied, "Making your knees go weak with just by touching you."

Ranma managed to snort before the rest of her reply was cut off by her attempts not to giggle.

Knowing the limitations of his strength, Lisa made his way over to the bed to toss the squirming bundle onto it so he wouldn't embarrass himself by dropping her.

Ranma had been thrown through the air many times in her life, usually though she was prepared for it or had time to counter it This time was different, this time she was too caught up not focusing, intent on enjoying what surprises Lisa had in store for her. One second she was kicking her legs and squirming to get Lisa to stop and then the next second she was falling back onto her bed. Slightly dazed by her own thoughts and wondering what she was feeling she did not resist when Lisa crawled on top of her and pinned her hands above her head.

Lisa noticing that Ranma had become silent chose to take advantage of the situation and once he had her arms pinned above her head, he lowered himself to deliver a light kiss on his current girlfriends lips.

Her eyes closed Ranma began to slowly respond to Lisa's administrations. But as her hunger grew she decided to change positions. With a fluid movement she reversed their positions to where she was now on top straddling Lisa's midsection.

Now on his back Lisa let his hands to trail along Ranma's body as if they had a mind of their own. He knew that he was getting aroused from previous experience and was desperately attempting to calm himself but Ranma's position was making it more difficult.

Ranma was too busy focusing on kissing Lisa and wondering why she was feeling so good at the moment to do much of anything else.

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Nodoka was running late, Colonel Maistroff who wanted to go over what specific upgrades his Destroids were going to be given, had delayed her along with the rest of her team. Unfortunately Colonel Maistroff had yet to arrive so she was stuck waiting for him. So far though he was only ten minutes late. Regrettably the meeting could not be postponed any further back because they needed his Hancock to proceed with the upgrades and new design models. The meeting should have taken place a few weeks ago but she had been occupied with the stripping of the captured vessel as well as cataloging and analyzing miscellaneous weapons, parts and computer systems, most of which could be of use if they could assimilate them to work with their technology.

The result of her long hours spent going over alien tech meant that she had been unable to find the time to draw up the plans for the upgrades or in most cases even begin to decide what those upgrades were. Luckily though, she had finished the majority of her work on the alien craft early, the rest could be done by looking over her notes and examining computer readouts, and thanks to her team, they had been able to put a few things together. She knew that the Colonel was not going to be in the most cooperative mood, but hoped that the new designs might make him a bit more agreeable. She had already taken them forward to Dr, Lang and he had been impressed with them so hopefully so would the colonel.

Looking over her team Nodoka noticed that she wasn't the only one who wanted to get the meeting over with, well with the exception of Matt Riley, he was her resident computer specialist, he just looked anxious to start the meeting so he could talk about his new targeting software. Nodoka shook her head; he was going to get upset with her because she was just going to sum it up for the colonel. Then there was Lo Xian; she seemed bored, of course Nodoka knew that it was because she was missing work. Xian was the type of woman who married their work and was a genuine asset to her team, without her a lot of the new upgrades might not be possible. Then there was Dan Wier and Samuel Rickman, her Laser and missile design specialists, they both looked half asleep.

Under normal circumstances Nodoka knew that she would not have these particular members on her team but for her work on the veritech program. Dr. Lang felt that they worked well together so he decided to make the group permanent. That seemed like eons ago though, since then they had worked on so many projects together that they were fairly well versed in each other's fields as well as several others. Hearing the door open Nodoka Looked up to the entrance and said, "Thank you for coming Colonel, I apologize about the delay in this matter but unfortunately my team and I had been indisposed."

"I just hope that this matter does not reflect upon your abilities as engineers." Growled Colonel Maistroff.

Letting the remark go right past her Nodoka said, "Well, we are here and we have several possibilities to discuss."

"Well lets get started I don't want to waste my entire evening talking, I am a busy man and my time is not cheap."

Thankful that Lo Xian was not like her former tribeswomen of the Amazon village, Nodoka continued, "Well if you have a seat we can continue so you can be on your way as soon as possible."

Maistroff grumpily complied taking his seat without further discussion.

Seeing that the Colonel was ready Nodoka began, "We have a lot of ground to cover so if you will save your questions to the end it would be appreciated." Letting out a sigh she continued, "For starters we have decided to leave the Tomahawk alone for the most part as it is equipped with a wide array of weapons. We have however came up with the idea to substitute the beam cannons with alien tech, these beam weapons have a bit more power to them and can last longer without needing a recharge. We also plan to add magnetic clamps to the feet of the unit, as it will allow it to stay on the deck better as well as adding a few auxiliary thrusters so it has better maneuverability in space. Unfortunately this does not enable them to directly go into combat as they are too slow but it does offer them a higher survibility rate as they are able to dodge faster."

Taking a drink of water Nodoka paused briefly enough for the Colonel to digest the information. Continuing she said, "The design for the phalanx has been adjusted for the increased mobility as well. The difference in the weapon system is that it will be capable of carrying the new reflex missiles so they will have to be modified to carry double the amount. So instead of each arm containing 11 missiles with 11 in the extra clip they will be capable of carrying 22 missiles with 22 in the clip giving it 88 missiles to fire before it needs to reload. We have also taken the liberty of adding two medium pulse beam cannons, one on each shoulder. This will hopefully give it some added kick incase there is no time for a reload."

"We have decided that we are going to scrap the current Spartan line." Sensing that the Colonel was going to object she held up her hand and quickly added, "But we deemed that necessary as we have come up with a new design for it called the Spartan II or if you prefer, the Super Spartan." Noticing that Colonel Maistroff seemed temporarily placated she continued, "The process is going to take awhile and those in service will stay in service until they are inoperatable and unfit for service."

"The Spartan II in many ways is just like a veritech, minus the transformation, but with the speed and maneuverability in space. Unfortunately we do not believe it capable of sustaining long-term flight within an atmosphere, it will be able to hover and scoot about, but that is about the maximum maneuverability we can expect. It will be capable of carrying the same missile payload as the Veritechs, as well as having turret lasers on the head. The main differences are that they will not be capable of carrying the headhunter missile nor will they be issued the GU-12. Instead it will carry a modified alien medium beam cannon and have an additional 6 short-range missiles attached to a launcher on the right forearm of the Mecha. However, with all these upgrades we still do not believe that it would be prudent to use the Spartan 2 as a front line weapon until it has proven itself defensively. But it should be flexible enough to take on that role should the situation demand it."

Activating a holographic display device Nodoka continued, "As you can see the beam cannon has a power cable attached to the left arm, this is because the weapon needs a continuous power supply to fire for any substantial period. Also you should note that the missile pack on the right forearm and the beam weapon are interchangeable to allow for right and left eye dominate pilots. (1). "

After hitting the next button on the devise Nodoka started, "This as you know is the Monster. While the missiles it fires off are effective, we have decided from our observations during the initial attack and events following the fold operation that the artillery cannons are not very effective in space. As such the two models currently in service will be upgraded. Because we have recently come across a stockpile of alien missiles we are going to take away the four artillery cannons and replace them with two alien launchers that use long range missiles as well as two medium beam cannons attached to the missile launchers on the arms. In the shoulders we are adding 4 single tube launchers that hold one in the ready and three in reserve, giving it a total of 16 more long range missiles."

Noticing that the Colonel had a slightly satisfied look on his face, Nodoka smiled inwardly, she had been worried that the colonel might not be placated by their suggestions. Hitting the next button on the projector an image of a six-legged six-armed crab like beast shone brightly. Taking in the Colonels puzzled expression Nodoka said, "This is our solution to adding more firepower to the sdf-1, we call it the Widow Maker. By design, any enemy forces that should go against it will be illuminated in short order. As you can see the forward arms are similar to the Monster, though the arms range of motion is severely limited it is more than enough for mid to long-range combat. The other four arms staggered directly behind them as you might of noticed, are from the Phalanx model giving it 176 short-range anti aircraft missiles. As you can see by the design the four arms are both staggered in depth and height on the craft, that was done to ensure that the arms are out of its line of fire."

Switching to a top view of it she continued, "You can see that it has an overall oblongigated oval shape to the body. That was done for two reasons, one for the previously stated additional arms and two to support this."

Clicking the next button the image was replaced with an exact duplicate of the side view with the addition of large triple tube connected to the top. Seeing the puzzled look on the Colonels face Nodoka answered his unasked question, "That is, or rather was, an alien laser turret. We removed several from the hull of the captured vessel and noticed the similarities between those and what we have onboard the SDF-1 and know that they are compatible with our own systems. Unfortunately these cannons need to be linked to a power source to fire more than three shots. That can be remedied by placing several power assess ports on the outside of the ship. Now I know you think that this might cut down on mobility but the turret will have a generous range of motion and the missiles are also there to defend it. Plus the overall mobility of the craft will be twice as fast as the Spartan, and it will be equipped with a number of auxiliary thrusters as well as magnetic clamps. The increased mobility is due to the six legged design as the weight is proportioned evenly enabling us to design more agile legs, though in space weight is a mute point, the agility it offers is not."

Taking a moment to click off the projector Nodoka asked, "Do you have any questions, Colonel?"

"Yes, are the Phalanx, Tomahawk and Monster designs each going to receive the same mobility package?"

"Basically yes, though the propulsion will be adjusted to suite the mecha's needs. Anything else?"

Are you planning on making any adjustments or anything to the targeting system?"

"Yes, they will be receiving a variant of the one we developed for the new veritech model."

Maistroff raised his hand to his chin stroking it for a moment before he asked, "With all that you told me about the Spartan II I fail to see how the unit will not be able to be applied for use on the front lines."

Nodoka sighed, from what she knew about the Colonel he was a rather stuffy but Glory seeking individual more worried about his command looking good than overall care about the safety of his men. Giving him a strained smile she said, "Well our recommendation are based off of the fact that the veritech squadrons utilize all three transformations in battle giving them a variety of possible top speeds. The Spartan II will only be as fast as the Veritech in Soldier mode and will be unable to keep up with the enemy battle pods for more than a minute. As such we are recommending that they be used primarily as a last resort in offensive combat. However their added mobility would be an added plus should the battle come to the decks of the SDF-1."

Maistroff frowned slightly and asked, "Are you saying that the Armor is not strong enough or doubting the effectiveness of my men?"

Nodoka blinked unsure of where that question came from. Shaking her head in a negative manner she replied, "That's not it at all, the armor has been improved, it is now a bit more durable and lighter than what it was before. As far as effectiveness goes that's a rather subjective point. If the enemy is out of range of the weapon than all the missiles it has at its disposal are rendered useless. However if the enemy is in range than any number of weapons will take it down. I guess…"

"I am not interested in guesswork." The Colonel snapped rudely before continuing, "What of the Widow Maker? You had said that it requires energy assess ports to recharge in the mist of battle. How can that possibly be effective?"

Nodoka wanted to sigh in frustration but bit it back in favor of responding to the Colonel.

"While it is charging it is able to move at any given time, plus as long as it is attached it will be able to fire a continuous blast."

Maistroff sighed and said, "Very well, tell me though, will it be possible to have the turret removed and a different weapon added?"

"Yes, it will be possible. Currently in the works we are attempting to fit this design into a type of veritechs we have the turret replaced with twin heavy beam cannons."

"I see, how many pilots will this craft need?"

"It will need a crew of two to be fully effective, one for piloting and one for targeting with the majority of the mecha's weapons."

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For Lisa it had been a long time since she was held in the embrace of a lover and since then passion had been a stranger to her as she had been unable to move past her feelings for Karl. But now with Ranma on the bed enjoying his actions Lisa failed to question himself nor did he really notice that he was a guy. Sure he knew that his body was responding in an almost foreign way but he was a woman first, a woman whose boyfriend also turned into his girlfriend, so she ignored the foreign sensations in favor of meeting Ranma's desires. And as long as Ranma continued to enjoy his ministrations he was more than willing because he wanted her to be happy and to feel like she does on the rare occasions that Ranma holds him when she's a woman.

Pushing Ranma's borrowed sweatshirt up and then pulling it over her head Lisa reversed their positions. Now on top Lisa noticed that Ranma had her eyes closed so she would be unaware of his actions. Taking advantage of that Lisa made his way down Ranma's body leaving a trail of light caresses and soft kisses down her body.

When Ranma is honest with herself she knows that she had been drawn to Lisa since they met. The two of them were so similar in their upbringings but yet at the same time entirely different. If she were more experienced she would be able to recognize that those differences along with the general understanding made them more compatible than any other of her fiancées. Sadly though, Ranma lacked in experience and was caught unaware as her lack of experience caused her to gasp out in surprise as she felt a pleasant tremble caused by Lisa's tender caresses on her breast.

Ranma wanted to fight it, she was a guy and guys aren't supposed to feel that way. But being around Lisa and having her apart of her life brought had made her long for things she had never felt before on a subconscious level. And her subconscious was telling her that she wanted to feel, loved, needed, understood, accepted and safe. These were things that the male side of Ranma never truly had a chance to feel before but yet deep down he had pined for them. She felt that as long as she was in Lisa's arms she had all of those things because as long as Lisa was there the numbness that she was prone to feel as male Ranma, the pilot, the martial artist, the killer, was subdued by the warmth that Lisa would give her. (2)

Pausing in his ministrations, Lisa repositioned herself to where he was leaning on his side. Looking down at Ranma, he trailed his free hand upwards along Ranma's inner thigh stopping just short of Ranma's maidenhood. he was puzzled, for the short time that they had been together Ranma had never even moved past kissing when he was male, but at the same time whenever Ranma was female, no matter what gender he was at the time, they would get into some fairly heavy make out sessions or rather she would and Ranma would just enjoy it. And with the exception of the night before they started going out Ranma had always remained mostly clothed.

Moving his hand from Ranma's thigh to her stomach Lisa began to softy trace spirals as he lost himself in thought. "_What am I doing? Do I really want to do this? Does Ranma want this? What if this is a mistake? We haven't even gotten this far in our true forms yet. Actually, besides this the furthest I've gotten with Ranma was when we were both girls. He or she hasn't even seen me topless yet."_

"_Could Ranma be avoiding me when he's a man? We haven't been going out all that long but I know we haven't done anything with him as a guy other than a few pecks every now and then. Maybe there is more to her problem than what I thought. He had been doing so well to, I don't want to see her fall further back. I guess the question is what should I do here. I know that I want Ranma for Ranma and even though she's a guy to me the form doesn't matter. But when it comes down to it I would rather be myself than Larry, if this were permanent then that would be different as I would want her to accept me for me."_

Breaking out of her musings Lisa softly spoke, "Ranma?"

Confused by Lisa stopping as well as from her own emotions Ranma hesitantly opened her eyes and stared into Lisa's soft brown orbs.

Seeing that she had Ranma's attention she continued in a soft voice, "Are you okay?"

Thinking that Ranma was puzzled by her question Lisa amended, "I think what I am trying to ask is do you want this? I mean really want this, how it is right now. Or is there something else? Please tell me."

Ranma took a deep breath not quite sure on what she was going to say. Lisa, noticing Ranma's, hesitation moved his hand from Ranma's stomach to her hand giving it a light reassuring squeeze as his temporarily larger hands encompassed it.

Now that the moment was officially over Ranma began to take stock of what had happened and she realized that if it had not been for Lisa she might of went through with it. The question she was asking herself though was why?

Lisa moved to the side some as he noticed that Ranma was going to sit up.

"I don't know? I guess I was a little upset when I got back but then after I left the bathroom you started messing around… I guess I was enjoying it… It sort of made me forget for a while and I didn't want to remember…. Then you started…" Ranma blushed lighting up her face before she continued, "… It just felt so good, like I was warm all over. I just wanted to stay that way, you know…"

Lisa moved closer and embraced the Girl and asked, "What are you trying to forget?"

Ranma looked down at her feet that were now dangling off of the bed and shrugged, "Everything I guess… It's weird I know but whenever you are around me nothing seems as important. Looking over at Lisa she added softly, "After I closed my eyes I sort of forgot that you were being a guy."(3)

Lisa stared down at his body and said incredulously, "You forgot I was I guy? With a body like this? I don't know if I should be insulted or not."

"No. I mean… It's like, if I close my eyes and just focus on you I can smell your perfume feel your soft hands, even the way you kissed me screamed out, 'This is a girl'."

Lisa paused briefly as she thought about what to say. On one hand she could tell Ranma what she had been thinking about how he wanted to have his first time with Ranma in her normal body and that to her she wouldn't pressure and accept either form, that it was just he wasn't completely sure if he wanted to experience 'it' as a man. On the other hand he did not want it to seem like he was rejecting her, because he wasn't. No he wanted to continue on, but as a woman not as a man. He wasn't completely sure if Ranma was mentally ready yet either, she was a whirlwind of emotions whenever she was a woman but as a guy he always seemed a bit distant with the exception of a few occasions. Deciding to go with a different approach he leaned over and gave Ranma a peck on her check and said, "You know, that's kind of sweet, weird, but still sweet. You know later I…"

DING

Looking over at the clock Lisa cursed and said, "We're running late, your mothers here. Hurry up and get dressed."

Grabbing a hold of her barrowed sweatshirt Ranma asked, "Can you reach in my drawer and toss me some underwear."

Lisa shrugged as he began to straiten his clothes out. Walking up to the dresser Lisa opened a drawer and grabbed the first thing that she came across. Pulling it out she let out a low whistle and asked, "Where did you get these? Never figured you for the baby blue Lacy thong type."

Ranma blushed as she hopped off the bed to grab said item out of Lisa's hand. Reaching for it she said, "Mom bought them for me before we left Japan. Now holding her underwear Ranma removed her boxers while Lisa turned around to face away from her. Seconds later Ranma said, "Ewww."

Thinking about what they had been doing before hand Lisa slapped herself with annoyance grabbing the redhead by her arm she dragged her into the bathroom and tossed her her clothes. Before shutting the door she said, "I'll Stall Nodoka, You clean yourself up."

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Nodoka sighed as she rang the door chime, the meeting overall was a success, Colonel Maistroff gave his go ahead on all of the upgrades albeit somewhat reluctantly on the widow maker, but in the end he caved in. Then after the meeting she had to run back to her barracks to grab a few cds, Ranko's formal gown as well as a few props they were going to have Ranko test out for her talent. Shifting the items in her arms so they wouldn't fall Nodoka wondered what was taking so long for them to open the door, she had been standing out there for more than a minute and she knew that they hadn't yet again changed their plans. She was about to ring the chime once more when Lisa Hayes opened the door disguised as Larry. Smiling she asked, "I don't suppose you could give an old woman a hand with these."

Lisa nodded and replied, "Of course Saotome-san."

Relieved of the majority of her bundles Nodoka stepped into the room and gave it a once over. Not seeing her daughter or son anywhere she asked, "Where's Ranko at?"

"Oh, she's in the head mam. She'll be out in a moment."

Nodoka shrugged and made her way over to the bed to set the evening gown down. Shaking her head at the general disarray of the bed Nodoka sighed as she started to straiten it up.

"You don't have to do that Saotome-san." Lisa replied nervously, afraid that Nodoka might be able to tell what they had been doing just a few minutes ago.

"Non-sense dear, I might have been busy as of late but I still view Ranko as my daughter for all extensive purposes and I'll admit that I have been rather negligent. And do call me Nodoka or Auntie, Saotome-san makes me sound old." Under her breath she added, "Besides, it isn't supposed to be Saotome any more but the blasted mailing service didn't deliver the decree in time."

"What was that Aunty?"

Turning around in surprise Nodoka shrieked happily and pulled her son/daughter/niece into a warm hug and immediately began to fuss over her.

"Akk, cut it out aunty you're gonna embarrass me in front of Larry here." Ranma pleaded while she attempted to squirm free.

Nodoka laughed softly and replied, "Okay, but I reserve the right to do so upon a later date."

Not really happy about that Ranma pouted earning a laugh from Lisa.

Lisa still holding the bag that he had taken from Nodoka said, "Why don't you and Ranko go over some of her possibilities for the talent portion while I make dinner."

Taking the Bag from Lisa Nodoka responded, "That's a lovely idea." Grabbing Ranma by the arm she said, "Come on this will be fun."

Ranma rolled her eye's she really didn't want to do this. Nevertheless she allowed herself to be drug over to the couch where she sat down while her mother started to remove objects from the bag and arrange them on the coffee table.

Having arranged all the objects on the table Nodoka said, "There are several things that you could do, you could dance, juggle, sing, do martial arts or a gymnastic routine. Some people even do magic tricks. Now we just need to find out which one works best for you. I know you are an extremely exceptional martial artist but I think we should leave that in reserve."

Ranma shrugged, while she still loved martial arts, practicing them had become a private affair as of late and she really didn't want to advertise her skills, especially if anyone caught wind of her chi abilities. So instead of objecting she just grabbed a few juggling rings and started to juggle.

Nodoka frowned to herself she had been expecting Ranma to want to do a kata or show off her abilities and not cave in so readily. She sat there silently for a moment just watching her daughter juggle seven rings before she said, "Well, I think we can add juggling to the possible list."

Ranma shrugged, juggling was easy when you had been forced to waitress at the Neko Haten and unable to bear the slightest touch of hot water. Holding up her arm she allowed all the rings to fall onto her right wrist before she set them down on the table.

Once Ranma had set down the rings Nodoka asked, "I don't suppose you know how to dance?"

Ranma paused before she shrugged out, "Some, I had a martial arts ballroom dancing match that I won."

Nodoka filed that away as a possible seeing that they would need a partner for Ranma and said, "Well, we'll wait for Larry to finish up making dinner before we come back to that." Pausing slightly she asked, "So… What would you like to do?"

Ranma sat there silent in thought before responding, "I really don't know, I mean I never really gave it much though, figured I'd just wing it."

Sighing Nodoka said, "Ranko dear, I know you don't particularly like the idea of participating, but for a lot of women and young girls this competition is very important, just think about Minmie and how much effort she is putting into it. It would be insulting to the other contestants if you didn't take this seriously."

"She's right Ranko, I know Claudia has been frantic about the whole ordeal and has had Lisa helping her whenever she gets the chance." Lisa said as she walked into the room.

Ranma knew that they were right so she conceded, "Okay. But I still don't know what I want to do."

Sitting down across from Nodoka and Ranma Lisa asked, "Well can you play any musical instruments?"

Ranma shook her head and said, "No, never learned."

Nodoka picked up her stack of cds and said, "Well, you do have a lovely voice, I bet you have the loveliest singing voice."

Larry/Lisa reached across the table and grabbed a few cds from Nodoka, flipping through them he said, "Tiffany, The Monkey's, Madonna, Weird Al, The Corrs, well that's a little better." Pausing to spare the older woman a glance he stated, "The best of Doctor Demento, I'm My own Grandpa?"

Nodoka's cheeks reddened slightly embarrassed by her music selection and defended, "Hey that's a classic. Uhm, anyway I didn't know what Ranko would want to sing so I just grabbed everything I had. I figured that she could sample a few of the songs, then we could go from there."

Ranma now holding the bundle that Lisa had been holding said, "Don't you have anything a bit more modern?"

Nodoka was literally saved from responding by the bell as the kitchen timer rang.

Getting up from his seat Lisa said, "Pizza's done."

Nodoka nodded and added, "Right, first we eat and then afterwards we'll have you test out a few songs just to get the idea of what type of music your voice is best suited for. Then after that you get to try on your gown and we'll practice stage walking."

Dinner went by too quickly for Ranma, not that she had felt up to eating much. It was almost to quick for her tastes as she found herself singing several songs and just when she felt she couldn't sing any more her aunty had her try on the evening gown so she could make adjustments to it. Then after that was done, Ranma had been forced to change once again, though this time it was into a bathing suit and high heels so she could practice her stage walking and thanks to the little episode at the store Ranma had never bought a replacement for the only one she had, witch was a one piece with the word 'boy' written across the chest. That had earned her a laugh from Nodoka and Lisa especially once she told them that it was to help keep guy's from hitting on her.

In the end though Ranma decided that she was going to sing as there was no way she was going to show her mother the only magic she knew and they all felt the other options were too plain and lacked the extra ummph needed for competition, though if Lisa had known any ballroom dancing they might of went with that.

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Lisa waited five minutes after Nodoka left for the night before she went into the kitchen and poured some hot water over her head restoring herself to normal. Walking over to Ranma, who had changed back into the jeans and sweatshirt and was currently occupied by doing her usual routine of exercises before she went to bed, she said, "If you would go ahead and change so I can have my clothes back, I'll get out of your hair so you can get some sleep."

Ranma really didn't want her to go, she enjoyed Lisa's company and though she had been surprised by her reciprocating actions earlier she felt that she still wanted Lisa to spend the night. Finished with her reps she stood up and said almost fearfully, "You can stay if you want to."

After standing there considering her options Lisa agreed, "Okay, but I get dibs on the sweatshirt."

Ranma shook her head and said, "Uh uh, you said I could borrow it, it's mine for tonight."

Lisa was puzzled, if she didn't know better it seemed like Ranma was testing her by not changing back into a guy. But then again if it was a test and Ranma was seeing if she truly excepted her girl form then she was going to show him rather her that it didn't matter to her as long as it was Ranma underneath. Walking over to the closet Lisa said, "Well I guess I'll have to find some other way to keep myself warm tonight. But first, we need to get you packed and ready to be moved."

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After Lisa left in the morning to go back to her barracks to change for her shift on the bridge Ranma took a cold shower before she restored herself to male form. Once dressed he started to make his way over to his new office to go over Rick and Gary's files. While he knew both of them personally he had no knowledge of how good of pilots they were and needed to look over their files to see what their instructors said.

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Lisa stepped onto the bridge early for her shift and went up to the OOD (officer of the deck) to receive his report while she waited for the rest of her shift to relieve the night shift. Sitting down in the recently vacated captain's chair she lost her self in thought about last night in favor of listening to the OOD tell her in a round about way that nothing happened. She still wasn't sure if Ranma was testing her or if there was some other reason as to why he preferred to spend his time in female form with her. She knew that he was just starting to make some headway in recovering from his depression. Oh she knew what it was, it had taken some time to figure it out but the signs were there, she even had her suspicions about what was causing it. Unfortunately the military could only step in once it became a problem that affected his abilities and that just plain sucked because in the current situation, just being not up to par for one day could mean the difference between life and death.

Then there is the fact that Ranma never really initiates any type of sub sexual contact or even sexual contact unless she takes in mind the night of Roy's party. She was partially worried that her actions were going to push Ranma across a line that he didn't want to cross and while she could wait, Ranma would send mixed signals making it more difficult to judge what he wants her to do physically. Like last night, before Nodoka had arrived she had started to something and at first Ranma reciprocated her kisses but then for the most part Ranma had just lain there while she, he at the time, did all the work.

Thinking back to what Ranma had said about his experiences, she wasn't really surprised. It was quite possible that Ranma, whom seemed to be a bit of a prude, just wasn't sure on what he was supposed to do. Lisa knew that what ever the reason, she would have to get him to unwind and most likely she would be stuck in the lead for the time being, not that she minded but she wanted Ranma to learn. Lisa also suspected, based on Ranma's reaction to taking off her boxers that the small gasp she had felt the night before was probably the first time that she had experienced the onset of an orgasm, though truthfully it had been rather weak. That was something else she would have to probably work with him one on one because if Ranma was going to have his girl form an active part of their relationship, he was going to have to learn a few things about her body.

One of the other things she worried about though was Ranma's view on his personal honor. By them getting in their relationship, Ranma was in all practicality cheating on several other women. Women that he might go back to because his honor was on the line. She was going to have to talk to Roy to see if he could go fishing for answers from Nodoka, because the last thing Lisa wanted to do was hurt Ranma.

Hearing the door open behind her she noticed that Sammie Porter, Vanessa leads and Kim Young had come on duty. There was another problem there, Sammie had been avoiding her since the day that she called her commander when he was pretending to be Larry at the store. She knew that this couldn't go on because it was a distraction to their duties and how could they be an effective crew if one of them was avoiding the other. Lisa decided that once Claudia comes in she would take Lisa into the briefing room and sort out the situation.

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Ranma looked at the clock in his new office it was 8:56 and he had already gone through both files. They said basically the same thing, though Rick's had a bit more praise in it, and that was that the two of them were exceptional pilots and had high marks in the simulator. Ranma himself had only been in the simulator twice, both times he had practiced landing, the rest of his time he had spent in the air with his uncle Roy learning by experience.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Come in." He said as he stacked the folders on top of each other.

"Lieutenants Hunter and Mitchell reporting for duty, sir."

Ranma shook his head slightly; he knew these two pilots personally and didn't want to lose their friendship because he was a hard ass. However duty was duty and this was their initial report so he humored them and said, "At ease, take a seat. We have a lot to go over before I take you to see your birds, and we only have three hours to do so because we are heading out on a three-hour patrol at 1200 hours.

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Hearing the door to the bridge slide open Lisa turned her head and was relieved to see Claudia walk in right on time for the start of the shift signaling the night crew to depart. Standing up she walked up to her best friend and said, "I need you to watch the bridge for a few moments while I talk to Sammie."

Claudia raised an eyebrow at that, she had been aware of Sammie's avoidance in regards to Lisa but she had been unable to get the young officer to tell her anything. Whispering, "Good Luck." She made her way over to the captain's chair and took command.

Turning around Lisa said in a calm authoritative voice, "Ensign Porter, could you join me in the briefing room for a minute.

Sammie gulped, she had a feeling that she knew what it was about. _"If I had only kept my mouth shut, the commander wouldn't have found out. Now I'm probably in trouble or something."_ She thought as she followed Lisa into the briefing room.

Once Sammie walked through the door Lisa hit the button to seal and lock the door ensuring their privacy. Then she walked over to the table and took a seat next to her subordinate. Deciding that she was going to start off slowly to draw Sammie out she drawled out, "Sooo."

Sammie shifted nervously in her seat not knowing how to respond at first. But then will a swell of courage she asked bluntly, "Was that you?"

Lisa paused in giving her response she thought, "_Maybe she doesn't really know after all."_ Needing proof one way or another she asked, "Was who, me?"

Sammie sighed and responded, "The guy with the short busty redhead at the boutique."

"What makes you think that?"

Now by this time Sammie was worried that she had made a mistake, however she also knew that it would probably be for the best if she got it out in the open. After all, she couldn't get court martailed because of scuttlebutt. Answering the question she stated, "I heard rumors about Lt. Saotome having a curse from a few pilots that claim they saw him change back on Macross Island. Then I overheard you and captain Davis talking over the COM during their first patrol. Then shortly after Col. Fokker's promotion I heard you talking to Commander Grant about it. I started to get curious so I followed you to Lt. Saotome's the day that you said you were going shopping. After awhile of waiting a man whom looked like you and a young busty redhead, whom fits the description of what the people who told me about Lt. Saotome."

Lisa sighed and wondered if she should have Sammie transferred to intelligence, before asking, "Even if and I mean IF that were true, why not ask me about it?"

Sammie blushed in embarrassment over her upcoming answer and said, "I was afraid that you would outright deny it before you gave me a chance to explain why I wanted to know."

Lisa raised an eyebrow and replied, "Well, it's not really any of your business and I as well as Lt. Saotome would appreciate if you keep this little rumor to yourself. That said, why would you want to know?"

Sammie shifted uncomfortably in her seat the truth was is that she really didn't know why she wanted to know. To her it had sounded impossible and that had peaked her interest, but she knew that if she said that Lisa might be a little put off by her nosiness and she liked associating with the commander. "I guess I was just kind of curious and was wondering if youwouldletmeborrowsome." She said quietly.

Lisa took a moment to dissect Sammie's statement before cautiously saying, "Well, I don't know about that, there is only a small supply of it." Noticing Sammie's slightly put off expression she added, "I'll talk to Lt. Saotome about it. Was there anything else?"

Sammie rose to her feet thankful that it was over with, however before she left she worked up the courage to ask, "So what was it like?"

Lisa blinked and stood silent before replying, "If all goes well you'll find out on your own."

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Ranma had just finished briefing Rick and Gary on their new equipment as well as went through what they would be doing on patrol as they had a dual mission to accomplish. One part being the actual patrol and the second being getting used to the feel of the new veritechs. As it was the entire group's first time in a model used for anything other than training Ranma had made sure to go into detail about the differences.

After a brief introduction to their birds Ranma explained that Gary was to be Ghost 2 while Rick was Ghost 3, but if they were on the squadron channel they could be as informal as they wanted barring none of the higher ups were listening.

It was 1159 when Ranma's group managed to take off out of bay five, which was located directly below the command compartment.

Allowing Rick and Gary to form up on his wing Ranma said, "Alright, today our flight path starts here, with the sdf-1 which is staying in a synchronous orbit on the dark underside of Charon to an orbit around Pluto. We have been authorized for the sake of training to use random routes as delta squadron is also out here flying the standard patrol route. So if you are ready, let's see if you can stay on my wing. Oh before I forget, every time you fall out of formation it'll cost you twenty minutes in the gym with me for remedial practice."

Behind their helmets Rick and Gary simultaneously groaned, they both knew Ranma's level of fitness and were a bit weary of having him instruct them. But before they could plead otherwise Ranma had hit his thrusters

Deciding to further motive his group Ranma said, "Oh and Delta squadron and the SDF-1 have informed me that they will be attempting to get missile locks and firing solutions on us. When that happens that's thirty minutes in the gym and 30 more for every lock they get."

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After two hours of flying various patterns and formations in different modes Ranma had finally managed to lead his group to orbit around Pluto. He had been told that the patrol was more of an official way of telling him to go out there and see what the machine has by his Uncle and that Delta would actually be the ones doing the actual patrolling.

So Ranma had decided to see how well his groups paint theme actually worked in space. He had led his group into a low orbit in between Pluto and Charon and instructed Gary and Rick to cut all power with the exception of life support and the com, cockpit lights had been turned off as well so as to not give away their position. Ranma's intent was to stay in orbit around Pluto with all major systems shut down and wait to see if Delta's patrol spotted them during their last lap around Pluto. Ranma had timed it to where they would be on the far side of the planetoid when they were to be passed. In this instance the far side is the side opposite of the SDF-1 and facing the inner parts of the solar system.

So far they had been adrift for fifteen minutes and were about to circle around to the light side of Pluto. (4) Knowing that Delta was still ten minutes away Ranma decided to pass the time by informing his team how many day's they racked up in the gym. "Gary and Rick you guy's Copy?"

Simultaneously two voices groaned out in a bored tone, "Yea/yeah I copy, over."

Not really caring if they were bored because they were doing their duty Ranma said, "Just thought I'd tell you guy's how you did."

With a little more color in his vice Rick responded, "Well how'd we do?"

Smirking ever so slightly Ranma stated, "Well, you both did pretty good and it was neck and neck for awhile there and of course this doesn't include what the SDF-1 has for targeting solutions. But in the end there Gary managed to win by a landslide."

Happy that he didn't have to look forward to long hours in the gym after patrols Gary let out a loud whoop while Rick groaned almost equally as loud.

Ranma wasn't finished yet though and added, "Yeah Gary you won around 52 hours in the gym compared to Rick's forty-seven hours and twenty minutes."

While Rick took his turn to let out a celebratory Whoop of joy at having a better score Gary protested, "Aw, I thought you said I won Lt."

Ranma shrugged his shoulders in his cockpit as he attempted to stretch out and replied, "You did, with hard work and the proper motivation the extra time in the gym will hone your mind and body into a better well oiled machine so that next time we do this you might come out on top."

Gary had started to say something but Ranma had tuned him out his dangers senses were screaming out to him as he felt something oddly familiar but couldn't place it. Deciding that excess talk might be distracting Ranma barked over the net, "I need you guy's to cut the chatter, something's up out here."

Ranma focused his senses He could feel something, it reminded him of what he felt around the sdf-1. He also knew that whatever it was if it had not been for his group's veritechs being shut down he would have missed it completely. He was however surprised when a group of six enemy vessels started to materialize in a high orbit around Pluto. Taking control of the situation Ranma hissed over the COM, "Stay as you were, don't start up your birds unless it's absolutely necessary. I'm going to warn Delta off and Contact the SDF-1."

Taking their silence for confirmation that they understood their orders Ranma switched his COM to the secured channel that delta was assigned. Switching on his mic he called out, "Delta one this is ghost one do you copy? Over."

A static reply of, "Ghost one this is delta one we copy, you're coming in slightly hazy. Over."

"Delta one, do not approach Pluto orbit, hostile fleet just appeared. I repeat, do not approach hostile fleet in upper far orbit from your location. Over."

"Roger Ghost one, are you in need of assistance?"

"Negative Delta, they haven't spotted us yet, switching to contact SDF-1."

Now all Ranma had to do was contact the SDF-1, he knew that Delta was sending a report but he needed to tell them what they were up against and to do that Ranma would have to send his initial message with as much Intel as he could because the transmission time delay was somewhere around three minutes and a lot could change in that time.

Ranma lifted up his flight visor so he wouldn't have anything reflecting to give away his position. That done he reached into his breast pocket and took out a series of cards. The cards were made to assist pilots in identifying alien crafts. They were based off of intelligence from the first two battles as well as from the computer on board the captured craft. He flipped through the cards discounting the various battle pods and smaller support craft. After getting to the ones he wanted he switched over to the command channel and said, "This is ghost one to SDF-1 command. 6 hostile vessels located in quadrant 7 from your location, estimated eta one hour. Includes 3 destroyers, two carriers and one scout class vessel. Standing by for further orders, over."

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Lisa was now manning her station, Captain Gloval having assumed the bridge/watch. She had been tallying up the successful firing solutions on ghost squadron and was almost finished. So far Lt. Mitchell had been hit 12 times and Lt. Hunter had been hit a whopping twenty times. She was almost satisfied with that, not that she was truly angry at Lt Hunter. It's just that she was still a little upset about him calling her a sourpuss and peeping on Ranma. Of course she realized that she was being a bit immature but it still gave her some satisfaction knowing that Ranma was going to make him suffer during his remedial training.

Well not really, Ranma's idea of remedial training was working on teamwork for the most part. He, rather she, had explained it to her last night saying that the majority of the time they were going to play various sports with a cool down of martial arts. Though Ranma's idea of martial arts training is a bit extreme to be put mildly and most likely going to do the two other members of ghost a whole lot of good when it comes down to the bottom line.

Lisa was about to call over to Claudia whom had been busy tallying up her own totals to go over with the weapons crews when Delta reported that Ghost had come across an enemy fleet. Lisa did her best to keep her cool as she waited for Ranma's transmission and knowing his last known coordinates would be delayed by a little over three minutes.

Finally after waiting anxiously for what seemed to be an eternity Ranma's Voice came over the com and said, "This is ghost one to SDF-1 command. 6 hostile vessels located in quadrant 7 from your location, estimated eta one hour. Includes 3 destroyers, two carriers and one scout class vessel. Standing by for further orders, over."

The captain whom had ordered yellow alert and moved directly behind her position to await the incoming news cursed silently before he said, "Lisa, All hands battle stations. Red alert. Ensign Leeds, Call senior staff to the briefing room ASAP."

Twin responses of, "Aye ,aye sir." Echoed through the bridge as Captain Gloval exited the bridge. Shortly thereafter Lisa and Claudia's positions were commandeered by members of the night watch so that they could attend the briefing.

Once the last of the senior staff arrived Captain Gloval stood from his seat and said, "Approximately 9 Minutes ago ghost group encountered a enemy fleet. With an estimated eta of fifty minutes and counting" Ignoring the gasps of surprise and disbelief he continued, "They reported that there were three destroyers, two carriers and one scout class vessel. So far they have not been noticed and are awaiting further orders on how to proceed. If we stay here we will be found eventually but if we attempt to engage our days in hiding and preparing are surely finished. What I called you in here for is to find out if we are ready. Col. Fokker, report."

Roy stood up from his seat and replied, "All Veritech squadrons are up to full strength. The munitions upgrades were completed on schedule. I have 16 pilots whom were just posted within the past few days, five of them have yet to see actual flight time without an instructor."

"Good work Colonel, you may sit down." After Roy sat down Captain Gloval said, "Dr. Lang."

The scientist stood nervously and reported, "All special projects aboard the captured vessel have been either completed or moved as of early this morning. We can detach at your conveyance."

Captain Gloval nodded and asked, "What of the Omni-Directional Barrier that you have in the works? Is it ready for deployment?"

Dr. Lang shook his head and said, "No, there have been a few issues regulating the energy conversion ratios. However we have successfully developed a smaller system that has better coverage than the pinpoint system we had first developed. There are two problems with it though: One, we cannot fire the main gun while it is deployed and two, instead of three smaller directional circles this barrier is 320 meters wide and forms a concave shell that will encompass the bow of the ship shielding everything behind it with the exception of the sides of the Sdf-1. The reason that this is a problem is that this barrier is stationary and cannot be moved."

Captain Gloval stroked his chin briefly before he asked, "What is the status on the two reserve cannons that were installed on the Prometheus and Dauntless."

Dr. Lang smiled and said, "They are one running at ninety eight percent efficiency and currently have a recharge rate of 90 seconds and are capable of firing with the barrier activated."

Captain Gloval nodded in approval, the two new cannons weren't as powerful as the SDF-1's main gun but were more than enough to take out an enemy vessel and to add to it 90 seconds was a lot better than the five minutes that it took fore the main gun to charge. Once the rest of the staff had reported Captain Gloval stood up and paced a few times before he said, "Recall Ghost group. We are going to have to attack them head on. We will move out of our orbit into one parallel with Charon's equator, it is my intention of keeping the moon directly behind us. Col. Fokker I want two squadrons stationed at our eight and four to keep an eye on our six. Have them staggered along different orbits for maximum efficiency. Once Ghost returns direct them to the front lines. That is all, you are dismissed."

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As the SDF-1 was preparing for battle Ranma noticed that one of the destroyers managed to change directions and was moving along the planet in the opposite direction. One that would bring it into flanking position of the SDF-1. Instead of instantly alerting command he waited to see if there were any further developments. He was glad he waited, not two minutes after the destroyer had completed it's turn than it released a smaller craft. Flipping through his cards Ranma identified it as a three-man scout ship, according to the card it was a fast moving vessel with few weapons and barely any armor. Unfortunately it was fast and would reach the SDF-1's position within fifteen minutes. Sending one more coded message to command apprising them of the new situation Ranma was torn. His group was capable of intercepting by just using the stabilizing thrusters and that would hopefully not register on the aliens sensors, however if they didn't move within the next minute they would have to start up their veritechs and burn thrusters which in turn would ruin any ambush the SDF-1 had planned. Making a quick decision he switched over to his groups channel and told them his intention of intercepting the craft and then boarding it using only the maneuvering thrusters before switching back to command to appraise them of the new situation.

Gauging distance in the past for Ranma had been relatively simple, especially since his style of martial arts was an aerial style. However he did not want to take any chances with the lives on board the SDF-1 so he switched on his targeting computer and adjusted his course to intercept. He just hoped that no one bothered to look out their windows and saw the tiny flames coming from their thrusters as they adjusted their course.

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Lisa returned to the bridge to send off Ghosts group's orders when the new communiqué came through. She stopped to turn around and inform the captain when he collided with her. Catching herself before she fell Lisa managed to say, "Sir, ghost group just informed us."

"Yes, I know. Unfortunately, all we can do is hope that they are able to intercept without tipping off the aliens and be ready for when the destroyer moves into position to flank us. Ensign Young, what are the destroyers and the rest of the fleets ETA?"

Typing in a few quick commands into her council she replied, "The main bulk of the enemy fleet will be upon us in twenty two minutes provided we do not slow down. The destroyer is twenty seven minutes away at our present course."

"Very well, Lisa alert all veritech squadrons that they are to observe radio silence until they engage the enemy."

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Ranma watched as the scout ship loomed closer and closer as and prayed once more that they wouldn't look out their window near the upper right corner and see his craft. He looked to his left rear to see if Rick was still on his wing. It was only due to his enhanced vision, trained to spot the smallest details that assured him that Rick was there. After looking for Gary whom had maneuvered behind Rick Ranma realized that with the blackness of space their color scheme made it virtually impossible to spot. Now he just worried that the reports were accurate and that as long as they did not fully start up their birds the aliens wouldn't read them as anything more than harmless space junk. (5)

"_Almost there."_ Ranma thought to himself as his Veritech started to pass over the body. "Now" he exclaimed as he powered up his veritech and transformed into soldier mode, using the magnetic locks to hold him to the hull. He smiled with satisfaction as Gary and Rick successfully touched down on the hull. Flipping the COM back on he said, "We should be close enough to the scouts ships power source that any readings they get from us should be mistaken for fluctuations or something like that."

Raising his eyebrows in his veritech Rick asked, "Something like that?"

Not really wanting to say that he had fallen asleep during a briefing Ranma said, "Well, I had it explained to me because I missed part of the briefing."

Gary snickered; Ranma must have forgotten that he was the one who explained it to him. Not wanting to point out his leaders faults he asked, "So what now?"

Scanning the hull looking for an access hatch Ranma said, "You two tear open the hatch and I go in and secure the craft. It's only a three-man vessel so I should be able to handle it Solo. I want the two of you on standby incase something goes wrong, understood?"

Taking their silence for acceptance Ranma proceeded to locate the hatch, it was on the side facing the planet. Moving into position he readied himself as Rick and Gary prepared to force open the door.

Using his veritechs fingers to simulate a countdown Ranma started at three, then two and on one he swung through the open hatch and scanned the room with his eyes. Seeing three of the giants directly to his right he fired his pulse lasers taking out the first one while two concussive head shots with the Gu-12 fell the other two, splattering gray matter all over the controls. Impassively Ranma moved to the hatch to give the all clear.

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A few moments later Rick and Gary had moved inside of the small craft to join Ranma, seeing that their mission was accomplished Rick asked, "So what now?"

Ranma was just staring off into space, he wasn't really feeling anything just an overall numbness. Looking down at the controls Ranma tore a sleeve off of one of the fallen giants in an effort to brush away the stray gray matter that had not floated out the hatch from the lack of gravity and air pressure. He didn't even flinch when a massive blob floated up and connected with veritech temporarily blocking his view screen. Seeing something he recognized he said, "I want the both of you to remove your Head hunters and secure them as best as you can near the back wall. I'm assuming that that's the engine compartment."

As they began to comply Rick asked, "So Ranma, are you gonna fill us in here?"

Ranma stated simply, "We are going to reinstate an old Japanese tactic."

"Didn't figure you for a historian there chief." Gary stated.

Ranma shrugged and replied; "Growing up in various dojo's you hear stories plus in my travels me and pops would come across various shrines and other places. One day I asked him and to explain it to me and he humored me."

Not knowing what Ranma was talking about Rick questioned, "So you want to go into a little more detail and tell us non-historians what you're planning."

Ranma turned his attention away from the view screen and said, "We are going to utilize a kamikaze attack with this ship."

Rick knew what a kamikaze attack was and blanched, it was one thing to fight but something completely different just to lay down and die."

Gary hoping that he was on the right track said, "Relax Rick, I'm sure Ranma has it all worked out so none of us will be in here when it goes bye-bye." As an after thought he added, "Right?"

Ranma who had turned back to the controls said, "Huh? Ohh… right. Look the plan is for you two bail out once we have the destroyer out of sight, using the planet to shield your exit. Then I plan on turning this tub around and ram it into their hull as close to their engineering section as possible."

Thinking that Ranma was throwing his life away Gary interrupted, "Sir there has to be another way. You don't have to throw your life away like this"

Ranma focused on the controls a moment before saying, "What? Who said I was doing that. I have to stay in the craft to steer it, then when I'm close enough I'm going to blow the windshield and send out a head hunter to blow a hole in the side of the ship, then I'm going to fly out the windshield turn around wait for the collision and launch my remaining headhunter at it to blow the rest. Hopefully that will be enough to at least cripple the destroyer buying the sdf-1 more time to prepare."

Gary felt a bit stupid for assuming that Ranma was going to throw his life away, though there was just as good a chance of that happening anyway.

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Meanwhile the SDf-1 had positioned itself for their trap. Both secondary cannons were fully charged, the Barrier was on standby and the main gun was fully charged just in case. The plan was simple, they were going to be close enough so that they would be able to fire the secondary cannons the moment the aliens came around the planet. The plan was to open up on the destroyers once they were within the maximum effective range, hopefully they would be damaged enough to be taken out of the fight while they maneuver to take out the two carriers leaving the scout ship to Grey squadron while the rest of the veritechs take out any enemy battle pods. Hopefully within moments the main battle will be over and they can maneuver to take out the third destroyer moving out on their flank.

Paying close attention to the readouts on her screen Lisa kept a watchful eye on any activity from Ranma's group; she was worried because they had not yet re-established contact. As if the fates were reading her mind Lisa noticed a small alien scout ship appear on radar. Not allowing her features to betray her emotions she cried inwardly before refocusing on the upcoming battle. She was about to order one of the reserves to intercept when the radar picked up two veritechs leaving the small vessel before it spun around and headed back the way it came as if the hounds of hell were on it's heals. She was about to signal the two veritechs but like the shuttle before them they too flipped around and disappeared on the planets horizon.

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Gary and Rick were in position to exit the craft as soon as Ranma gave them the all clear. Moments later the order came and Rick plunged out first followed shortly by Gary.

Once out of the craft instead of Gary heading off to rejoin the sdf-1 he spun around and followed the craft.

Rick wanting to know what was going on called him and said, "What are you doing? Ranma told us to go back to the SDF-1."

Closing his gap to where he was now on the underside of the scout craft Gary responded, "If you're gonna talk get over close to the engines, the energy should scramble our COM signatures masking our presence."

Reluctantly Rick complied and said, "So what's the deal?"

"There might be trouble and we are a team, I have no intention of leaving Ranma alone incase something comes along that he can't handle."

Wondering why he didn't think of that Rick complied silently as they cruised in on the Alien destroyer.

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Preparing for his plan Ranma double-checked the missiles, ensuring that they were securely in place. Once that was done he moved over to the controls, having already moved the bodies out of the way, finding the controls for the speed he set it to three-quarters maximum speed.

All was going well, the Alien Destroyer was a bit more than a minute away and Ranma had just adjusted the vessels course to bring it crashing into his guestimaton of where main engineering was. For a moment he was thankful that he had been the one with his mother onboard the captured vessel, because without that experience he wouldn't know how to fly the vessel nor would he know where main engineering was onboard the alien vessel. Unfortunately after that moment a face appeared on the shuttles main view screen. Not knowing what to do Ranma raised his Gu-12 and blasted it prematurely clearing his escape route.

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On board the Zentradi Destroyer commander Briteck, one of the lowest ranking commanders in Breeti's fleet, was puzzled. He had sent out a scout ship to determine the whereabouts of Zor's ship, while the rest of his fleet circled around the planet in the opposite direction. His ship was intentionally lagging behind in the hopes of ambushing them. Unfortunately the scout vessel he had sent out was now heading back to his ship and ignoring all attempts at communications. Getting frustrated and worried the moment the shuttle changed it's course to make it seem as if it was going to ram them, he ordered his comm. Officer to bring up the inside of the shuttle. He was shocked to see a micronian battle pod staring back at him impassively before it raised its weapon and destroyed the view screen.

Coming out of his stupor he shouted, "Launch all battle pods and target that ship, we are under attack."

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Ranma transformed his veritech into guardian mode and carefully flew out of the hole left from the main view screen. Letting off his thrusters he allowed the legs of his veritech to touch down on the forward hull while he prepared to fire one of his headhunters.

Suddenly his radar started to go crazy signaling that there were incoming hostiles. Looking around he saw them they were exiting the destroyer but luckily they had not yet spotted him.

Noticing that the Alien hull was getting a bit too close for comfort Ranma fired off one of his headhunters following it with a few extra reflex missiles for good measure. Flipping over the craft he nearly landed on top of Rick. "What are you two doing here, I told you to head back to the ship." Ranma said with just a small hint of anger.

Gary answered, "I was all set to return but Rick here claimed he lost his wallet, so I figured…"

Ranma sighed and interrupted, "Never mind just target those incoming battle pods and keep them off my back while I… scratch that, Get ready to move, I'm firing now." Firing off his remaining headhunter Ranma turned his Veritech around and headed away from the destroyer.

Battle pods were still exiting out of the destroyer as Ranma and his small group attempted to clear out of the area before they were consumed in the shock wave of the explosion. Holding on tightly Ranma refused to panic once his systems went haywire and his bird was picked up and being tossed around while it rode upon a wave of destruction. Fighting to regain control Ranma managed to Level his flight some. Taking note of his apparent position to Pluto he started to slow down having ridden out the worse part of the explosion. Fumbling with the COM system that seemed to be giving off nothing but static Ranma called out, "Gary, Rick you guys still with me?"

"You're frickin insane you know that Ranma." Gary moaned out while he attempted to do a systems check.

"Hey Rick, where are you?" Ranma called out again. With no answer forthcoming he Ordered, "We're going to have to split up to try and find Rick, he could be unconscious out there."

"Err no need chief, look behind you." Gary said as he transformed into soldier mode. Not seeing anything on his radar Ranma was puzzled, Gary should be showing up at least, but He wasn't getting any readings. Realizing something was damaged Ranma transformed and turned around. He grimaced, there was Rick being chased by about eighty battle pods and they were coming right for them.

Switching on his comm. to attempt to locate the fleet he cursed, it was bad enough that his radar was down because that meant that he was only capable of single manual missile locks, but if his long-range communications were out as well he couldn't ask for reinforcements. Switching back to his group channel Ranma said, "Gary, I need you to contact the sdf-1 and appraise them of the situation, I can't, both my long range communication and radar are down."

"Roger that Chief."

Ranma then turned his attention back to the approaching enemy, changing to fighter mode he headed towards them intent on intercepting them. Firing one missile, taking out the battle pod that was closing in on Rick, Ranma banked left spraying his pulse lasers into the mass of battle pods.

Gary who had been right behind Rick let off a score of missiles on his own taking out two more of the enemy's.

Rick who had sped past them managed to turn around and maneuver himself to take out one battle pod.

Ranma cursed, he knew that they were going to be surrounded any moment. Not allowing his emotions to get in the way he banked left, transforming into soldier mode and began to use his pulse lasers and Gu-12, not bothering to attempt a missile lock while the enemy were closing in.

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The Sdf-1 was sitting in position, her fighter screen was in place and all primary weapon systems were fully charged. Due to the report from Ghost group the plan had changed somewhat. As soon as the Alien fleet was in view they were going to fire the main cannon at them before placing up the barrier system in an attempt to take out the fleet with a first strike before they would know what hit them. Calling out to the captain Lisa said, "Sir picking up faint traces on long range radar."

"Very well, all hands stand by for firing the main cannon. Commander Grant prepares to fire once target is in maximum effective range."

"Yes sir. ETA is thirty four seconds and counting."

"Any word from Ghost Group?"

Lisa bit back her sigh and replied, "Sir, long range radar picked up a small shuttle with two veritechs that appeared to be leaving the craft before all three vessels increased speed and turned around heading back around the planet."

"Ten seconds and counting."

"Well let's hope that what ever they are doing buys us some time."

"3… 2…. 1… Targets in range."

"Fire the main cannon."

"Firing… Sir, there appears to be a problem the main cannon is experiencing a power drain."

Reaching over and depressing the call button Gloval said, "Dr. Lang report."

There was static and confusion evident in the background as Dr. Lang responded, "Some of the transformers from the captured vessel are being overwhelmed, we are losing cohesion. We are attempting to compensate. At best it will remain at 75 percent of full power but lacking in cohesion."

"Lisa give me a status on the damage to the enemy fleet.'

"Sir, it appears that one destroyer was destroyed, the other only seems partially disabled. The scout ship was obliterated but both carriers were out of range. Sir, both carriers and the remaining destroyer are launching battle pods."

"I want a count ASAP Commander."

"Aye sir…. Sir, there are eight hundred and forty battle pods closing on our position. Fighter screen is moving to intercept."

Gloval cursed and said, "Are they close enough for us to bring the secondary Reflex batteries to bear. "

"Not yet sir, they seem to be stopping where they are."

"Deploy the barrier and bring us in range."

"Yes sir."

"Commander Grant, how long before we are in range."

"Two minutes sir."

Lisa's eye's lit up as she received a communiqué and said, "Sir Ghost two reports that the third destroyer has been neutralized… Ghost one's radar and long-range communications are down. Sir, they are requesting back up, they are being attacked by a force of seventy two battle pods."

Gloval smiled, at least something was working out, even though it wasn't part of the initial plan. Barking out an order he said, "Inform Col Fokker to assign one of the reserve squadrons to assist."

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Ranma had developed a pattern, he would order his group to fall back, then they would regroup and then charge back into battle using the superior speed of their veritechs to dodge missile and laser fire. Unfortunately Ranma could only lock on one target at a time with a missile so he was relying more on his pulse lasers and GU-12. The odd thing was is that he had more kills than his two subordinates whom both had fully functional Veritechs.

Flipping around for another pass Ranma noticed that Rick's left thruster was malfunctioning. Over the COM he said, "Rick fall back further, I want you to just give us cover fire while Gary and I keep strafing."

"Gotcha Lt."

"How are you holding up Gary?"

"Running low on missiles." "Sir, I just received a transmission from the SDF-1, they are sending reinforcements. Silver squadron has an ETA of 3 minutes."

"Good, Rick once Silver arrives I want you to turn back to the SDF-1 for repairs. Gary, form up on my wing for another pass."

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"Sir, maximum effective range in 3… 2… 1. Now Sir."

"Fire at the carriers."

"Firing sir."

"Lisa report."

"Sir both carriers are destroyed." Pausing briefly Lisa Exclaimed, "Sir, the remaining destroyer has a lock on us and is about to fire."

"Status of the barrier?"

"Sir, it's holding."

"Status on the Secondary Reflex batteries recharge?"

Looking up from her display briefly Claudia said, "Sir, Secondary reflex batteries are not charging. Report coming in from engineering, the components that that the main gun overloaded are causing a feedback loop that is now starting to overload the barrier."

"Shut down the secondary reflex batteries." Gloval barked.

"Sir, my controls are locked and Manuel override is malfunctioning." Claudia gasped out."

"Lisa, order all veritech squadrons to disengage and get away from the ship."

"Aye sir, Veritech squadrons responding."

"Commander Grant status?"

"Sir the barrier is increasing in size."

Lisa turned from her station, looked at the captain and said, "Sir I have a suggestion."

"Go ahead commander."

"Sir, why don't we ram the destroyer with the barrier, we know nothing can get through it and since it is increasing in size it should take them out without damaging the ship even with it overloading."

Flipping open the channel to engineering Gloval ran Lisa's idea across Dr. Lang. After a few short seconds Gloval said, "Very well, full ahead. Sound collision, all hands brace for shock, in one minute twenty seconds."

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"Dammit Gary, stay on my wing."

"Sir, I took a hit to my main left thruster, I can't control it."

Transforming back into soldier mode Ranma made his way over to Gary using his GU-12 to take out three battle pods while taking a fourth one out with a missile. Giving a quick glance over in Gary's directions he said, "Fall back with Rick, I'll keep these guys off of your six."

Ranma guestimated the enemy forces left, they seem to have taken about thirty of them out because the enemy was not smart enough to attack on mass. Instead they were just attempting to play keep up while Ranma and Gary had been taking out the ones in the lead. Ranma narrowed his eyes as he noticed Gary empty his missile payload before turning back to join Rick. Switching to guardian mode Ranma used his thrusters to jerk ahead, narrowly avoiding a collision he used his veritechs arm to latch onto the leg of one of the battle pods going into a tight spin he flung the pod in-between two others that were attempting to sneak up on him and fired away a missile. Taking all three out with one shot.

Deciding that the enemy was starting to converge on him he transformed into fighter mode and retreated taking out two more battle pods with his pulse lasers.

In the distance, Ranma could see around ten Veritechs coming to join the fray. Flipping on his COM he said, "Rick, Gary withdraw to the SDF-1, looks like the Calvary is almost here."

Not waiting for their response Ranma decided that he had put enough distance between the alien group and himself. Spinning around he readied himself for another pass, if he timed it right he would be retreating from his run when help arrived.

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"Sir the barrier has reached critical levels."

"Lisa Range to the Destroyer,"

"Sir 800 meters and closing fast, the destroyer is attempting evasive action."

"Sir, we're out of time the Barrier is overloading."

Sparks began to fly out from the bridges systems as the massive vessel was rocked with a few massive tremors. Emergency lighting came on as the bridge was engulfed in darkness before the secondary systems came on line. Climbing back into his chair Gloval called out, "Report on the status of the Destroyer? I want a damage assessment, now."

Moving away from her darkened consul Lisa went over to the back up that was still functioning and said, "Enemy vessel destroyed, all remaining battle pods are withdrawing."

"Order veritech squadrons to pursue, there's no where for them to run and I don't want them to re group."

"Aye sir, Col Fokker says they are in pursuit."

Rubbing his head Gloval asked, "How bad was the damage?"

Sammie piped up from her station, "Four main overloads, fire control teams on route. Main power is off line. Life support is holding… three hull breaches on decks 11 through 14, emergency bulkheads are holding… No casualties reported sir."

Gloval sighed, it could have been a lot worse but overall he was proud of his crew, they had done exceptionally well.

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The battle was over, and Ranma had returned to the ship. Stopping by his office to write up his report he had come across Gary and Rick who were relieved to see him. After dismissing them Ranma went into his office to file his report on what happened before he stopped by his old quarters to pick up his stuff and move to the new barracks.

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Several hours later Ranma looked at the door number, then at the key card in his hand. Making sure both numbers matched Ranma swiped the card and unlocked the door. Taking a moment to close the door Ranma looked around his new room. It was a lot smaller than his old one; there was a full size bed in one corner, a small couch and a recliner with a coffee table in front of it in another corner. The next corner held a mini-fridge and microwave built into a cabinet that had a hot plate and coffee machine on it. The last corner was actually a small room, stepping inside Ranma noticed that it was the bathroom with a large closet across from it. Not bothering to unpack anything other than a towel and toiletries Ranma left his clothes in the closet and stepped into the bathroom.

After stripping himself out of his flight suit he hung it up on a hook next to his towel before turning on the water. After a moment of just standing there he stepped into the tub and shifted forms. It was at that moment when all she had done that day crashed down upon her with a vengeance. Feeling sick to her stomach she raced out of the tub barely able to make it to the toilet in time before her empty stomach relieved itself of what it wasn't holding. She stayed like that for a long time trembling as she was forced to relive everything she had done that day.

Finally she shakily climbed to her feet tears still tracking down her face. Stepping in front of the Mirror she took in her reflection searching for the monster she had become. She stared into her own endless blue orbs for what seemed to be an eternity searching for the beast within her daring it to make it's presence known. She was confused, she knew what he had done but he hadn't felt anything about it this last time. She on the other hand always felt the pain and despair that should go along with his actions.

She lightly brushed her hand across her reflection and thought, "_Am I a monster? I do not enjoy the things I do. They are necessary to protect this ship. This ship that contains my mother, my uncle, Minmie, my friends, and Lisa. Lisa knows what I do and yet she still cares about me_, _does that mean she likes a monster."_

"_Does Lisa like you? Last time you went on a ruthless killing spree she didn't see you for a month. Didn't they all leave you to suffer alone."?_

"_That's not true and I know it, she was busy, they all were busy. They have duties to this ship just as I do. Mom is an engineer, uncle Roy is the CAG, and Lisa is the XO. They didn't leave me they were just busy."_

"_Are you so sure about that, you need to come to terms with what you are."_

Ranma bristled with rage lashing out she brought her fist into her reflections face shattering the glass. Pulling her fist back she watched fascinated as droplets of blood began to stream down the shards imbedded in her hand.

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Lisa was in a hurry, she had managed to get through the post battle briefings and clean up operations without much hassle, she had even ordered take out from the white dragon and was having it delivered to her room. The truth is she was hurrying because she needed to see Ranma; she had been terrified when the enemy scout ship appeared on the radar, not knowing what had happened to him. Sure just moments later she had been reassured but that still didn't wash away what she had felt.

Now she was waiting outside her door for Minmie to arrive with her food so she could run over to Ranma's and sees how he was doing.

Ten minutes later Lisa was standing outside Ranma's door, she considered ringing the chime but Ranma had given her a key card to the door. Using the card she stepped into the room and called out, "Ranma… Are you in here?" Not hearing a response Lisa set the take out on the small countertop and listened, she could hear water running from a shower. Walking over to the bathroom door she noticed Ranma's bags tossed into the closet. With a frustrated sigh she knelt down and began to unpack for him.

It had taken Lisa about twenty minutes to unpack Ranma's stuff considering that all he had were clothes and a few knick knacks that she and Claudia had gotten him. Though she did blush over the fact that thanks to Nodoka Ranma had a racier underwear collection than she did.

Looking at the clock on the wall Lisa noticed that Ranma had been in the shower an awfully long time. Walking up to the door she listened carefully for any movement. Not hearing anything Lisa knocked and softly called out, "Ranma are you in there?" Still not hearing a response Lisa was worried. Cracking the door open cautiously she peered inside, she was relieved to see Ranma standing there in front of the sink. Opening the door further She took a step in, knowing that while she respected Ranma's privacy the younger currently girl didn't mind if Lisa saw her naked. Lisa briefly wondered if it was a cultural thing or due to the fact that Ranma grew up isolated and was used to bathing in streams.

When she walked in though a few things made themselves apparent, there was throw up in the toilet and glass shards from something littered across the floor. Thankful that she had not taken off her shoes she walked over to Ranma who still hadn't moved. She noticed tears streaming down the redheads face, reaching out and touching Ranma's shoulder Lisa asked, "Ranma, what happened?"

As if unfazed by her presence Ranma replied, "The mirror broke."

Lisa looked at the mirror and sure enough that's what was responsible for the broken glass, her eyes trailing downward Lisa gasped and said, "What happened to your hand?"

"I think I cut it on something, it hurts."

Shaking her head and wondering what was going on in the redhead's thick skull Lisa said, "Stay here while I get something to sweep up this mess and clean up your hand."

"Ok."

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Ten minutes later Lisa had cleaned up the mess in the bathroom as well as bandaged Ranma's hand. She also reached into the closet and pulled out one of her t-shirts that she uses when she spends the night so Ranma wouldn't be wearing just the towel.

After getting a silent unresisting Ranma dressed she went into the kitchenette and warmed up their dinner. Once that was done she brought it over and set it down on the coffee table and took her seat next to Ranma on the small couch.

Noticing that Ranma was just picking at her food Lisa's concern reasserted itself, so she asked, "Ranma, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

With no response forthcoming Lisa was grasping at straws. Unsure of how to asked she settle on just throwing it out there and said, "Are you upset about what you did today."

Ranma dropped her chopsticks and frowned at her food. Scrunching up her face she asked softly, "Am I a monster? When I was out there I didn't feel anything for them. No hatred, no compassion, just an almost overwhelming Numbness. Then when it's all over with I was still fine, until I went to take a shower and the cold water hit me and it all came back to me. I felt sick and disgusted with myself, but I knew that I had no choice. I don't understand why I can't feel when I'm a guy any more, but the instant I change it all comes back."

Taking in a deep breath she continued, "I know I'm a guy, but this body feels and I want to feel I guess."

Lisa added Ranma's words to her get Roy to go fishing on Nodoka list and said, "Ranma, I don't know what you're going through, and I really think that you should talk to a professional. It could be anything, from a side effect of your curse to battle fatigue. I do know though that you are no monster, if you were we would not be having this discussion. You know that if there is anything I can do to help you I will, but I want you to trust me and be honest with me when I ask you questions." Wrapping her arms around the redhead she asked, "Maybe it would help if you opened up more when you're a guy."

Ranma shook her head and said, "I don't think I'm ready for that yet. Maybe I just need to sort myself out like this before I can move on." As an after thought she added, "If you really think it will help, I'll see someone, I don't like feeling like this."

Lisa brushed a small tear from Ranma's eyes and said, "No one does, but before we resort to you seeing someone I want to check with Roy about a few things, ok." Ranma nodded.

With the hope of making some actual progress Lisa smiled and said, "Now eat your food before I have to force feed you."

---- End of chapter

If you remember back a few chapters I introduced the soul of reflection that will come into play within the next few chapters.

Also, I hope I have been doing an adequate job with Ranma's emotional state. I had intended to have Ranma to slowly withdrawal emotionally from his male form. Now he has shown anger and a few negative emotions but that will work it's way through the plot. Now what Ranma is doing is pushing everything off on his girl form making her deal with it. A sort of side effect of having a gender changing curse and deep mastery of the soul of ice, even though I had not mentioned him being in it in this chapter.

About the new technology I introduced in this chapter. Well I couldn't just upgrade the Veritechs. Plus the widow maker just seems like a bad a powerhouse.

I do hope that I didn't go to far with Ranma and Lisa in the beginning of this chapter, it sort of just go carried away on me but I stopped it. Though I do think it works it way fairly well into the whole plot thing.

Right versus left eye dominance, everybody has a dominant eye, for firing weapons the dominant eye should be the one you aim with. To test yourself to see which eye is dominate; using both eye's point to an object, then close one eye, then after opening the closed eye close the other and whichever eye had the closest picture that you had with both eye's open is your dominate eye.

I have been working showing a difference between Ranma's behaviors in both forms. While the soul of ice is eventually shutting down male Ranma's emotions, his female form is being forced to cope with everything that she does when she's a he and Is driven to experience a wide variety of emotions.

A couple of my reviewers were right, I do not believe that Ranma would ever really see Lisa as a guy and being so well versed in martial arts if he closed his eye's and just focused on what he was feeling he would think that Lisa was a woman forgetting all about her temporary change. Plus it is not a permanent curse, Ranma might have issues if it were permanent but its not.

Light side, the side facing the sun. So at this point Charon is behind Pluto with the SDF-1 hiding behind that. By start trek logic, i.e., the wrath of Kahn that should be more than enough to fool the Zentradi sensors.

I'm using star wars logic here, like when the millennium falcon loses the star destroyers by hiding under the ship with their power cut off and then escape with the space junk.


	7. Chapter 7

Many thanks to James Axelrad for his hep with this.

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Ranma woke up with Lisa's body spooned comfortably behind her. In an effort to not wake up the older woman Ranma decided to leave the warm confines of the bed in favor of the cold solidarity of the couch.

Pulling her knees up to her chest she wrapped her arms around them to fight off a shiver. Resting her chin on her knees she lost herself in thought.

"_What am I doing? For as long as I remember Honor was everything to me but even before I Came to Macross and got involved in this war I have been shirking my duties. And now I have become what my rivals have accused me of being. They were right all along… Enemy of women, indeed… I have three fiancées back in Nerima and here I am taking another relationship for my own selfish desires."_

Biting down on her lip in an attempt to escape the torrent of emotions that flooded her whenever she thought about how much Lisa means to her she continued, "_It may not be fair but I must do what my honor demands. But how am I to go about it? I am honor bound to serve this ship, I am honor bound to honor multiple engagements no matter what I want. And I am obligated to honor a commitment that I made as a small child to my mother. I had hoped that with the last one my mother would be able to look past the curse but that no longer matters. No what matters is the fact that I know that I can not be a man amongst men as long as I am cursed and with no known cure, I must accept that fact."_

"_How am I to go about this though, if I fulfill the pledge then I am balking at my oath to protect this ship. So by priority of obligation I must focus on protecting the ship. That means that I can no longer be burdened with these stupid emotions… If I am to do that then Ranko Tendo must die… How am I to go about that? I am obligated to contend in the Miss Macross pageant and by my honor I must take it seriously. So Ranko's death must come after Miss Macross. After that though what am I going to do? I have enough water proof soap to last for several months if I use it sparingly so that takes care of that."_

"_But what of Lisa? Honor does not care about selfish wants and desires… Still it wouldn't be right for me to end it in the morning. No she has worked hard with me on the pageant as well as taking her time to help me through with my problems. The least I could do was return the favor by giving her something in return. But what? She deserves to be happy… So I'll just spend the next several days doing my best to make her happy and then after the pageant is over I'll break it off. She might think she needs this relationship but I know she can do a lot better than me… yeah she'll thank me in the long run, besides I don't have a choice… Honor demands that I honor my other commitments."_

"_But how can I do that? There's no way I can marry three women. I guess that doesn't matter though… In the long run my first obligation is to my family and for honor to be upheld my life is forfeit. That will restore their honor and erase the tarnish that I have smeared them with…"_

Shuffling slightly in her seat Ranma continued, "_It's settled then, I will tell my mother about the curse but tell her that for honor to be completely satisfied__seppuku__ must wait until after the war is over."_

"_So my most immediate concern is to uphold my commitment to this ship and the people onboard. I need to be more effective, we are out numbered by at least a million to one. What can I do to even the odds? Train, My duty to this ship includes the duty to my command. I must ensure their safety in combat and to do that I have to make them better and more effective. That's the simple part; the remedial training is already set up I just need to amp it up. But then I still need to train myself. How do I do that? I know there are several techniques that I have seen but not yet attempted, like the technique that Happossi used to turn himself into a giant. That would be useful should I ever find myself onboard an enemy vessel without a veritech. Then there's the breaking point, if I can train myself to take more damage that will help."_

"_The problem is when do I start? I suppose I can start tomorrow morning with the training. Between that, patrols, any incoming battles, and spending these few last day's with Lisa my time is pretty much spent."_

"Ranma?"

Breaking out of her musings Ranma cocked her head to spare Lisa a glance and said, "Over here."

"What are you doing out of bed? We still have five hours before either of us has duty." Came her groggy reply.

"I woke up and didn't want to disturb you."

"Well come back to bed, I'm getting cold."

As she complied Ranma let a small smile grace her lips as she brushed a tear away from her eye, she was going to miss Lisa, but knew in the long run it was the only option.

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Ten day's have passed since the battle in Pluto's orbit, clean up and repairs were finished for the most part. The workers in the Destroid manufacturing plant were working hard in an effort to perform the necessary upgrades assigned to them from the engineering staff. The clean up and salvage operations had been completed and repairs were either underway or completed.

In an effort to increase moral Captain Gloval had decided to hold an award ceremony honoring Ghost groups actions in taking out an enemy destroyer by themselves. It was to be held at 1600 hours, at the outdoor auditorium that was to hold the upcoming Miss Macross pageant.

Despite Ranma's more recent upbeat behavior Lisa was still worried about him. Even though these past several days had been more enjoyable than what she could remember in a long time, Lisa was still worried about her/him. That brings her to today in an attempt to help Ranma she was meeting was meeting with Roy and Claudia for lunch at the white dragon. The reason for her meeting was two fold; one part was to hopefully get some answers for Ranma, while the other was an attempt to clear away some honor issues involving the validity of her and Ranma's relationship.

While she cared about Ranma deeply she knew that by them having a relationship he was breaking several honor agreements and she was worried that when he started to actually come to terms with what they were doing he would back off. She knew that it wouldn't be because he wanted to though, no it would be because he realized that in order to uphold his honor he had to uphold himself to his other commitments. So now Lisa was waiting at the White Dragon for Roy and Claudia to arrive for a hopefully constructive 1300 hours lunch date while Ranma worked with his groups remedial training.

"Commander, can I get you some more coffee?"

Breaking out of her musings Lisa jerked up slightly, realizing that it was just Minmie she nodded and said, "Sure."

"How's Ranma doing?"

Wondering if she was that transparent Lisa asked, "What do you mean?"

Flashing Lisa a bright smile followed by a girlish giggle Minmie replied, "You know, with his preparations for the pageant, he must be really busy between work and preparing that he probably is going to leave things to the last minute to get ready."

Lisa offered the young girl a soft smile and said, "Actually, with the exception of getting a new swimsuit and choosing the song he's going to sing, he's pretty much set."

Blinking curiously Minmie said, "I would have figured that he would have put everything off to the last minute. Like how he usually winds up having to do."

Lisa shook her head and replied, "No, his mother and I put a stop to that right away, we told him how important this pageant is to a lot of young women and that he would not be doing them any justice if he were not to take it seriously."

Minmie giggled and said, "I wish I could have seen his face when you said that. I bet he started to get flustered and declared his manliness."

Lisa shook her head and reminded Minmie, "He couldn't, remember his mother doesn't know about the curse."

Minmie immediately sobered and said, "Sorry, I forgot about that." As an after thought she added, "It must be really tough on him. To see his mother and pretend to be some one else all the time, I don't know if I could take it."

Lisa nodded solemnly and said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I've been trying to work on it but things just keep getting in the way." Deciding to change the Subject she asked, "So anything new happening with Lt. Hunter?"

Minmie Blushed and stammered, "It's been difficult lately, with Ranma putting him through training, Rick is too exhausted to do anything more than swing by for something to eat."

Lisa nodded, she was slightly aware of Ranma's change of heart on how to train his group but knew that in the long run it would only benefit them. Offering the girl a smile she said, "Yeah Ranma can be a task master when it comes to training."

Minmie stood up having realized that she had other customers, moving over, she gave the older woman a slight hug and said supportively, "I know, and I'm sure you'll figure something out eventually. You and Ranma look good together."

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Earlier, Roy was walking to Ranma's office to drop off three files. While it was true that Ranma was only a First Lieutenant, he had proven himself as being effective, both as a leader and in combat strategy.

It was his effectiveness in stopping the destroyer that was leading to him receiving a medal later that day. But it was his dealings of the events afterward that were leading to the addition of three new teammates. Ranma's orders in the events that directly followed the destruction of the destroyer showed that he was highly capable of commanding a larger group.

Roy was a bit wary though, he did not want to push Ranma too far and by making him responsible for three new teammates he was afraid of pushing Ranma further. The problem though is that he was not only Ranma's uncle but also the CAG for the SDF-1 and he had to do what was right for the ship.

But in this case what was right for the ship and right for his nephew did not coincide with each other. What was right for Ranma was long hours of counseling to overcome his personal problems. However, since said personal problems were no longer interfering with his duty, then as CAG, there was nothing he could do. Sure he could take Ranma off of flight status but then he'd have to do the same with a large amount of others. And as the CAG he was also forced to do what was good for the ship, and that was to give Ranma three new people to utilize in his command.

The only blessing in the whole mess was that even though he was giving Ranma three new people, he was only giving him one more veritech and a prototype. That still kept Ranma's group from being a full-fledged squadron and allowed him to limit Ranma's command without it being apparent that he was doing so.

Reaching Ranma's office Roy noticed that the door was open and it was empty, wondering where his nephew was, he stepped in the room and walked over to the doorway that connected Ranma's office to the squad room. Briefly he noted that Ranma seemed to have done some redecorating as his office was filled with the small desks that they used for briefing their pilots as well as the podium that the flight leader usually uses to stand behind as they gave their briefings. There were also several lockers and a few benches stacked in the corner.

Hearing loud noises coming from the squad room Roy knocked on the door. After a minute of waiting without an answer he opened the door and was shocked to see the sight before him. Ranma was standing in the middle of the room dodging blows from both Rick and Gary, while launching kicks and punches at various sized balls that were stretched across the room via bungee cords (A). It didn't stop there though; both Rick and Gary were dodging the balls and attempting to hit the balls as well.

Roy was so shocked at the sight that he didn't make his presence known, however that didn't stop Ranma from noticing him and calling attention on the deck. Resulting in both Rick and Gary snapping to attention and consequently getting hit with several balls that Ranma had sent rebounding at them causing the both of them to stagger forward a few steps as they both tried to regain their footing.

Calling, "At ease." Roy took a few steps forward and continued, "I don't even want to know." Gesturing to the room's new décor. "I just came by to drop off a few files for you to look at."

Taking a few steps forward Ranma asked, "What's that sir?"

"I got two new pilots for you as well as a technical sergeant that are being added to your group." Roy said as he handed the files over to Ranma.

Flipping through them Ranma asked, "What's with the Sergeant? I mean if he's not flying a veritech then I don't really have a use for him… Not that I'm complaining sir."

Leaning in the doorway casually Roy said, "Well if you look in the file you'll see that he is going to fly with one of your new pilots as a gunner. Your only getting one Veritech, it'll be a new model so it can keep up with you." Holding his hand up to stall off any questions he continued, "In addition to the veritech you are being given a prototype, it's modeled after the new widow maker design. It has the same missile armament as the destriod model but it carries four medium beam cannons."

Noticing Ranma's blank look at the new tech he added, "The beam cannons are the same ones that the aliens use on their battle pods. It also only has two modes, a flight mode and a walking mode, both are fast enough to keep up with you and the rest of your group."

Still flipping through the files while he listened Ranma asked, "When are they going to report? I have the next two-day's off to prepare for that… ahem… Thing."

Roy grinned slightly realizing that while Gary knew about the curse, Rick was still in the dark about it. Roy didn't mind that though, he realized that the curse was something private and that not all people were as accepting as others, though he also felt that Rick would be rather understanding about it, if not a bit wierded out at first. Shrugging his shoulders he said, "Well, they're busy moving into their new quarters right now. I suppose you could go to their rooms and introduce yourself… " Pausing briefly Roy rubbed his chin in thought and added, "Or you can have them all paged to come to your quarters, that way you won't have to rush around to get ready for the award ceremony today."

Ranma nodded and said, "Sounds like a good idea, you want to join us, I'll order pizza for lunch, my treat."

Roy shook his head and said, "Actually, I'm supposed to be meeting Claudia for lunch today, so I'll have to take a rain check."

Ranma shrugged and replied, "Your loss sir."

With his business taken care of, Roy offered a casual wave to Rick and Gary before nodding at Ranma before turning around and leaving.

Ranma looked around and said, "Okay, forty-five minute break then meet at my quarters for lunch."

Seeing them nod in compliance, Ranma made his way into his office to have his new team members paged.

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Hearing the door chime Ranma called out for the person to enter.

Rick stepping into the room followed by Gary let out a whistle, they were billeted at the old barracks and while their rooms were nice they were rather bland. Walking in Gary said, "Where's the can at? I got to take a leak."

Ranma pointed to the slightly open door and said, "In there, pizza's due any minute as well as our new teammates."

Gary waved him off casually and walked through the doorway. Taking a look around he noticed that Ranma's closet was wide open displaying a rather odd collection of clothes, well odd for anyone who doesn't have a water based gender changing curse. Thinking that Ranma really wouldn't appreciate it if Rick or the newbies found out about his secret or worse suspected something totally different he closed the door.

Ding

The pizza having arrived just after Gary went into the bathroom Ranma got out of his seat in the recliner and said to Rick, "This must be them."

Rick shrugged, as he was about to claim a piece of pizza and said, "Yeah probably."

Ranma opened the door as Gary stepped out of the washroom and blinked. He had expected the three new guys to arrive separately and not together.

"Lieutenants Max Sterling and Ben Dixon and Technical Sergeant Mike O'Malley reporting as ordered Sir."(B)

Ranma shook his head and said; "This is an informal meet, seeing that tomorrow when you are actually due to report I will be occupied and off duty, barring of course an attack."

Taking the lead Ben said, "Still, we wanted to make a good impression on our new CO.

Stepping aside and waving them to follow him Ranma replied, "Well mission accomplished. Though I did not expect to see the three of you arrive at the same time."

"Well actually Sir we all know each other. I was pulled out of Veritech flight school five days ago and partnered with Mike here for testing a new prototype." Ben explained.

That bit of news surprised Ranma; test pilots usually had a bit of experience or in his group's case were quite good. Assuming it to be the latter Ranma said, "Well you must have impressed them with your abilities then."

Ben blushed and stammered, "Err, actually sir… Don't get me wrong I'm a top notch pilot but… In the simulators I couldn't hit squat so they decided that I'd be perfect for this new bird."

Digesting that bit of news Ranma paused and said, "So I take it you are already familiar with the… Widow Maker."

"The Widow Maker Mark II interceptor version, Yes sir. Mike here is a top notch gunner."

Ranma nodded, that saved him the trouble of deciding who was going to fly what. Stepping to the side he said, "Rick, Gary these are Lt's Max Sterling, Ben Dixon and Technical Sergeant Mike O'Malley." Pausing for a second Ranma added, "Mike, we're kind of an informal bunch here so as long as there are no superiors present its just first name only."

"Thanks chief."

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As Ranma was getting to know his new teammates Claudia and Roy had joined Lisa at her table at the White Dragon. After everybody had placed his or her orders Roy spoke up and asked, "So, what's up?"

Lisa sighed and replied, "I'm worried about Ranma."

Concerned Claudia asked, "What's wrong?"

Looking around and noticing that there wasn't anybody nearby to ease drop Lisa said, "I'm not sure, it could be anything really, from his curse acting up to battle fatigue." Uncertainly she added, "I just don't know what to do to help him. He has taken to spending almost all his time with me in his cursed form. Not that these past several days haven't been great, actually they have been better than great and that has me worried even more. Ranma changed after the last battle and despite appearances I do not think that everything is 'All right'."

Roy curious because as far as he knew Ranma was doing fine and wasn't showing any of the grief that he had felt after the first couple of engagements asked, "What happened, I thought he looked alright when I saw him just a little bit ago. Plus I thought he held up rather well this last time, I mean he took out a destroyer by himself and didn't have any casualties in his group. He also managed twenty kills without functioning radar. Lt. Mitchell saw him right after the battle and said that Ranma looked fine, I even talked to Rick and he pretty much parroted the same thing except he added that during the battle Ranma remained calm and did his best to assure their safety after they got hit."

Lisa rubbed her hands together and said, "That's just it…" Noticing that her two friends wanted more she added, "When I found her later that night in her new quarters, I found her standing in front of a broken mirror, she was standing there watching the blood flow out of the cuts in her hand…" attempting to swallow her emotions she cracked out, "It's so hard to see her like that, she was crying and was calling herself a monster because he didn't feel anything as himself… that it wasn't until he shifted forms that it really hit her… I'm worried Roy… I'm worried for him… And I worried that once Ranma realizes the full consequences of us being in a relationship that we'll lose him."

Claudia took the now distraught women's hands into her own, giving them a reassuring squeeze she asked, "What do you mean, exactly?"

Sniffling softly Lisa said, "You know how Ranma is about his honor, well when we first decided to get together I… I sort of convinced him that we needed it, but now the thing is… is that once he fully understands that he has at least three fiancées and that by being with me he is slighting their honor… he'll end it and pull away from me and I don't want that…" Looking directly into Roy's eye's she continued stronger and more confident, "I… I think…. I think I love him Roy. It hurts so much inside to see him like this but I have to be strong for him."

Roy was stuck between a rock and a hard place, he knew certain things about the situation the were relevant but he also knew, though he could play it off as being Nodoka's brother, It would be best id he came clean. After glancing at Claudia, whom gave him a look that said he better talk, he cleared his throat and said, "Yeah, about that multiple engagements thing…" coughing slightly he continued, "See technically Ranma isn't engaged anymore."

Taking her hands out of Claudia's Lisa narrowed her eyes and asked, "What do you mean Roy?"

"Nodoka filed for divorce before after she left Nerima with Ranma. By the time we get back Ranma will no longer be Ranma Saotome, instead Nodoka changed his last name to Himura…" in almost a whisper he added, "When she took custody of him."

Laughing bitterly Lisa said, "Yeah, thanks for trying to make me feel better, I'm no lawyer, but we all know that for her to take custody of him she would have to know where he is. Plus, she would have to have some sort of evidence that he was being mistreated." Adding an after thought she said, "In order for that to happen she would have to know about the curse…" Noticing the serous grim expression Roy was giving her she trailed off into silence.

Seeing the confused betrayed expression on Lisa's face Claudia interjected, "We were going to tell you but…"

"YOU WERE GOING TO TELL ME!?!… IT'S NOT ME THAT NEEDS TO KNOW… WHEN WAS RANMA GOING TO FIND OUT… CAN YOU TELL ME THAT? CAN YOU? EVERDAY… EVERY FRICKEN DAY… I GO SEE HIM… AND EVERY DAY HE STARTS PULLING FURTHER INTO HIMSELF, SEPERATING HERSELF FROM HIM." Seeing all the stares directed at her Lisa attempted to calm herself, in a low growl she asked, "How long? How long has she known? Hell, how long have you known that she knows? Was it after the fold?" Seeing the sad looks on her friends faces she growled, "Before?"

Roy rubbed his temples, he knew if Lisa was this upset about this then things must be a lot worse than what he had thought. Sighing sadly he said, "Nodoka found out shortly after Ranma unlocked his curse. Lisa, it's important that you understand… Nodoka wanted to tell him but." "Genma" Roy spat angrily, "That manipulative bastard, had Ranma believing that Nodoka was going to kill him because of the stupid curse…"

"So, she could have just went up to Ranma and said, 'Hi Ranma, I'm your mother and I love you. Oh by the way forget about that stupid seppiku contract I was only joking." Lisa snapped angrily.

"That's the point exactly, if she went up to Ranma and introduced herself what do you think would have happened?" Roy paused, seeing that Lisa wasn't going to answer he continued, "I'll tell you what. Ranma would have went right back to Genma, then Genma would have taken Ranma and told him some sob story making himself out to be a victim… Then he would have turned Ranma against her and she would never see him again. The Tendo's weren't the only ones they could have stayed at, there were at least six other families throughout the wards of Tokyo for him to run to if things went south, it's just that Soun Tendo was actually Genma's friend so his family got first dib's and that's not even counting the other families like the Kuonji family that just haven't managed to track Ranma down." 

Smiling sadly he added, "It was never supposed to go this far… the whole point of bringing Ranma to Macross was to get him out of his fathers influence and get him thinking for himself. I was supposed to work with him, to get him ready to walk up and tell Nodoka that he was her son… I'll admit, I didn't really agree with that part… I felt that she could have told him… Well… Look, you remember the first time that Ranma changed in front of us don't you? That look of utter horror at seeing his curse revealed to me?"

Seeing Lisa nod Roy continued, "Nodoka wanted Ranma to work past that. That's where I came in, it was my job to work with him and get him ready to confront her." Shaking his head he added, "If not for the events that happened at Launch day Ranma would have told her. I don't know what happened change his mind though I believe it has a lot to do with what's been going on with him. But after the fold things just got difficult, we were all swamped in work and Ranma began to withdrawal. The night of my promotion party Nodoka was going to confront Ranma, but because Ranma had misunderstood what Nodoka had told him, he brought you in disguise we decided to wait a bit longer. I'll admit it, since that night I have been keeping Nodoka from telling him. At the time I was worried about him falling further into depression so…."

Standing up at the table Lisa Glared at her two friends and said, "I think I've heard enough for now." Turning to Claudia she added, "Claudia, I don't know when you found out but I'm hurt that you didn't tell me."

Worried for her friend as well as feeling guilty Claudia asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go find Nodoka, its 1335 now, I have until 1600 hrs to find her. When I do I'm going to drag her up to Ranma and force her to tell him. This has gone on long enough, Ranma's not going to get any better but if this keeps up he'll get a lot worse."

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Nodoka sat quietly in a darkened room staring at several items on a desk that she had long ago sequestered and hidden in the room. The room was Nodoka's hiding place onboard the ship, it wasn't overly large, it was just a room she had found a long time ago and since then has used it whenever she needed to get away and think without being disturbed.

The items on the desk were special to her. There was a picture frame containing a photo of her son covering one half and on the other was a picture of her technical daughter. Sitting in front of that, partially unrolled, was a piece of faded yellow parchment. On it contained an oath, an oath she never wanted nor asked for but an oath sworn to her by her bastard of a husband that kept her son away from her and despite not being flashed around still keeps her child at bay. The other item was a case, inside were family heirlooms to be passed down to the first-born Himura on their 17th birthday.

Normally Nodoka would not have such precious items lying about but today was a special day. See on this day seventeen years ago her son, the heir to the Himura family was born. As such today was the day that her son was to receive the family heirlooms as well as the blade of their ancestor, the family Sakabato once belonging to a long dead man whom had held a life somewhat parallel to that of her son. It was a priceless treasure and she had been keeping it locked up until she had come to Macross in an effort to ensure Genma never got his greedy paws on it. Sure Kenshin didn't have a curse nor was he engaged to more women than he could count. No it was their lives during the midst of war that were similar; both were efficient, deadly, brave and honorable, yet beneath it all lay a good heart.

It was in this room that Nodoka searched for an answer to the question that was her son. She wanted nothing more than to hold him and see him as he is and to let him know of how sorry she is for everything. She wanted him to see the love that she held for him all these years in the hopes of once again having a family. Over the years there were many times where she had believed herself not worthy of a family and not worthy of the son she had born, for to him she had done a great injustice and allowed a man no better than a common thug take him to raise him as he wanted. She felt that there is only so much the ignorance and desperation of her youth could excuse of her actions.

She knew that she did not deserve forgiveness for allowing things to get as out as hand as she had. She would be lucky in the end if her son even managed to speak to her again after becoming aware of all that has been kept from him.

With a forlorn sigh she sat up from her desk to seek out Lo Xian before going to watch the award ceremony. She realized that she couldn't watch from the stands but at least she could watch from outside. Wiping a tear from her eye she wondered if that was her fate, to watch her son's life from the outside looking in.

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It was presently a little after 1600 hrs and Ranma was standing front and Center on the auditorium stage with Gary and Rick directly to his right, while Captain Gloval gave his speech.

While he appeared to be at attention his mind was going over chi exorcizes. He realized that due to his new found disability to feel strong emotions in male form he was cut off from using emotional chi. Well he had thought so, it's turns out that while he can no longer use his confidence to gather his ki, but there is something else there that is available. Ranma had figured out that his ki was not made out of confidence; no confidence was just the trigger. He figured that his ki was just his increased life force and that the trigger just needs to be matched up to his overall emotional state. Well that was tricky, for Ranma he realized that in male form he didn't really experience one emotion over another, Infact the only emotions he felt were severely muted to the point where they just kept him from appearing to be some sort of android who is incapable of expressing himself.

That doesn't mean that he had been unable to find the trigger though, actually it was fairly easy. It turned out that the soul of ice had another stage to it, one that allowed a more concentrated use. Noticing that Captain Gloval had finished his speech Ranma turned his attention to his surroundings. After a few minutes he snapped to attention and saluted as Captain Gloval appeared in front of him. Dropping his salute he took the Captains outstretched hand and shook it.

Taking his hand back Captain Gloval turned and made his way down the line resulting in Lisa Hayes standing in front of Ranma to pin on the medal.

Lisa smiled at Ranma, despite how he felt on the matter she was proud of him. There is no telling what might have happened if he had not taken the destroyer out. Reaching forward she pinned the medal to his uniform and whispered, "You are a good man, no matter what you think."

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Onboard the Zentradi warship the fleet commander Breeti sat across from his chief military advisor going over the last of the data from the battle that took place around the ninth planet in the micronian solar system. Turning off his monitor Breeti asked, "What is your opinion?"

"My Lord, the Micronians continue to surprise me, their tactics are unusual but effective."

Leaning forward Breeti nodded and said, "Yes I have noticed that as well. It seems they are better versed in space combat than what we would expect from a race not to journey outside of their own system. The question, is what do we do from here? We need to draw them out into an open engagement to get a better grasp on their tactics. However I am rather unwilling to sacrifice more ships at this point until we have a better understanding of their tactics."

"A wise plan, my Lord… We are aware of their position…. Perhaps we should send a fleet to fold in, comprised mostly of carriers, have them unload their battle pods and then move out of range of their weapons. We do know that in the last battle the main Gun on Zor's ship malfunctioned."

"Yes that could work, by using the element of surprise we catch them unaware and while they are scrambling to defend themselves we move the carriers out of range forcing them to deal with our forces without the advantage of their main gun. They have already proven that they can handle 3 destroyers and two carriers worth of our troops… This time we need to send a message as well… Something that say's you cannot defeat us… Exidore, We will send five carriers escorted by three destroyers. We will not hold any in reserve; we will attack with the full 3250-battle pod compliment and overwhelm their defenses. If that doesn't work initially it will show them that they are dealing with a superior force that has far superior resources."

Exedore nodded, that was his assessment as well. Standing up from his seat he asked, "When do we initiate the attack, my lord?"

"We have ships on standby, we shall commence the attack immediately."

"Yes my lord, I shall send out the necessary orders."

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2000 hours

Ranma lit the last candle; she wanted tonight to be special. While the Miss Macross pageant was not taking place for two days, this night was going to be her last night with Lisa. Originally Ranma had considered the night before the pageant but she knew that she was going to busy steadying her nerves, consequently she asked Lisa to stay at her place for that night. It was odd, she wasn't really into the whole thing at first but after Lisa and her mother and even Gary talking about how important it is to a lot of women, Ranma felt that she would have to do the best she could as to honor those whom were contending.

The dinner was from the White Dragon and was currently stored in the microwave so she could warm it up at the last moment. Her coffee table was set up elegantly with a few roses in the centerpiece. She was wearing a nice but not overly elegant black dress that showed off a generous amount of cleavage with the matching black pumps sitting next to the door for easy access.

She felt bad about doing this but she wanted to feel Lisa one last time before it ended. There was no honor to it but she knew that her lost honor would be restored upon her death at the end of the war. It was the need to feel Lisa's touch that was driving her to this decision, and this was her last chance. Carefully wiping away a stray tear at the utter unfairness of her accepted fate Ranma made her way over to her new mirror in the bathroom to make sure she didn't ruin her make up.

While the motives behind her plan were less than honorable Ranma felt that she had nothing left to lose. She had already resigned herself to death once the war was over because it was the only way to preserve honor and adding one last sting wouldn't hurt or so she hoped. She supposed she should be faithful to the end so as to not dishonor anyone further but she also felt that she had this opportunity as a last right, so to speak.

"Hey Ranma I need to talk… what are all the candles for?"

"Crap." Ranma cursed to herself, Lisa had just arrived and she wasn't quite ready yet, plus her shoes were in the other room. Reaching down to her chest she straitened out her clothes and walked into the other room to great Lisa.

Lisa had just walked in the door and started, "Hey Ranma, I need to talk…" She trailed off as she took in the room's décor and amended, "What are all the candles for?" Before shaking her head stupidly, the placements on the table, the iced bottle of wine on the counter, everything screamed out ROMANTIC. She thought briefly that Ranma was going to exit out of the bathroom wearing an elegant tux to sweep her off her feet. She however was only mildly disappointed when Ranma sauntered out, sexily swaying her hips to add a bit of allurement, wearing a sexy black dress that wrapped around her feminine form that literally advertised, 'Take me now.'.

Ranma smiled to herself, She had caught Lisa unaware and surprised her. To her it did not matter that Lisa was still wearing her dress uniform, she thought she looked sexy in it. Especially the way the skirt made her legs seem like they went on for miles. Giving her best seductive smile, usually reserved for getting free eats; Ranma went over and gave Lisa a short but sensual kiss.

Blinking because Ranma had caught her off guard with the fact that she seemed sober and yet took the initiative Lisa just stood there flabbergasted until Ranma took her hand and led her over to the couch.

Ranma left Lisa to recover as she went to go pour the wine and take the diner out of its takeout boxes and onto solid red plastic plates. She sighed; it was hard to come across the 'good stuff' when almost everything fragile broke from being in zero gravity. She took the wine over first, handing Lisa's a glass as she set the bucket on the end of the coffee table. Taking her own Glass into her hand Ranma held it up and said, "Here's to the cutest Commander this side of Jupiter."

Lisa blushed mildly before raising a questioning eyebrow and playfully asking, "Oooh, and I suppose you know a cuter one on the other side?"

Ranma blanched, she had meant it as a playful compliment and hadn't wanted to spoil the mood."

Lisa saw the worried look Ranma had and giggled lightly before apologizing, "It's okay Ranma, I was just teasing… But honestly I'm a bit overwhelmed, what's the special occasion?" Lisa was torn, she wanted to tell Ranma about her mother knowing about the curse but she wanted Nodoka to be there for it. But on the other hand she didn't want to ruin Ranma's impromptu romantic evening.

Coming back with two plates of food Ranma replied nervously, knowing that she was going to lie, "There's no special occasion. I just thought of all that you have done for me lately and I wanted to do something special as a thank you."

Lisa could tell that there was more to it but let it drop in favor of saying, "Ranma, I found something out today that you should know but the thing is I don't know if I should tell you now or wait until I can get a hold of the other persons involved."

Sitting down next to Lisa, Ranma shrugged and replied, "It can wait, I want this night to be problem free and just between us, nothing else okay/"

Lisa turned her head and gazed into Ranma's blue orbs and hesitantly replied, "Okay, Tonight, it'll be just us no other distractions."

Ranma smiled giddily and said, "Good, now eat your dinner before it gets cold." Pausing briefly for dramatic effect she playfully added, "The sooner you finish the sooner we can move on to dessert."

Flirting back at the redhead Lisa said, "Oh, and what might that be? Hmmm."

Ranma grinned and answered coyly, "Strawberry ice-cream with real strawberries… Then if you're good maybe I'll let you have the second dessert."

Having been in the middle of taking a sip of wine Lisa nearly snorted said drink out of her nose. _"Did Ranma just insinuate what I think she did? She's not drunk, well at least I don't think so. Did she hit her head? No, don't see any lumps anywhere. Maybe she isn't as bad off as what I had thought. Then again this past week and a half have been great in-between us. Maybe she is ready for the next level, I mean we've been sleeping together in the same bed for awhile now." _Taking a bite to eat Lisa decided to just let the metaphorical chips land as the may.

Ranma not wanting to eat in total silence, lest the guilt that she was feeling for what she was going to have to do in two days time, decided to make a bit of small talk and said, "I would have made dinner myself, but I only know how to make simple things and a few desserts."

Not wanting to offend Lisa replied, "This is fine Ranma, you remembered my favorite. Plus you managed to pick out my favorite ice cream without me telling you… Though I am a bit curious about how you managed to learn how to make desserts and not anything more complicated than a simple meal."

"Err… actually, I sort of learned how to make desserts after I got the curse. You wouldn't believe the sweet tooth this body has." Ranma said with a blush.

Lisa giggled, she figured for Ranma that was an understatement because she was fully aware of her sweet tooth, as well as a bit jealous about how she could actually eat the things.

Throughout the rest of dinner and dessert the two maintained idle chitchat about a number of small minuscule things. Ranma, not wanting anything more than a slight buzz, carefully monitored her intake of wine to ensure that she would be in a position to remember every little detail about what was going to hopefully happen.

With dinner and dessert finished with Ranma found herself uncertain of what to do next. She had never really been one to take the imitative before and the bulk of her dating experience came from her dates with Lisa. Attempting to wing it, she made her way back to Lisa, as she had just cleared off the coffee table, and decided to sit in her lap. Wrapping her arms around the taller brunettes neck, she leaned up and planted a soft kiss on Lisa's lips, nibbling softly on the lower lip as she withdrew.

Shifting Ranma's legs across her lap, Lisa took one hand and ran it up Ranma's thigh, while the other slid up the redheads back. Leaning forward Lisa returned Ranma's kiss, with one of her own, this time offering a bit of tongue.

Ranma moaned in ecstasy enjoying just the simple pleasure that the kiss combined with the ministrations of Lisa's hands were doing to her. Unsure of what exactly to do with her hands Ranma brought one up Lisa's back while the other fumbled clumsily around Lisa's breast.

Lisa smiled as she pulled back, she realized that Ranma had not had a lot of practical experience, that was alright in her book, patting the younger girl on her butt Lisa said, "Up, I think we should take this over to the bed."

Ranma went to comply quietly and started to make her way over to the bed. However before she even got halfway there, Lisa put her hand on her shoulder and huskily asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

Ranma turned around blushing; she thought that Lisa wanted her on the bed.

Wrapping Ranma in her arms Lisa gave the redhead another intense kiss, while her hands moved to unzip the back of the dress. Pulling back Lisa slid the dress off of Ranma's shoulders causing it to pool on the floor, revealing Ranma's lacey black thong with matching bra.

Taking a step back to admire the sight before her Lisa said, "It's your turn, sexy."

Ranma took a step forward, after delivering another kiss she started to attempt to find the means of relieving Lisa of her clothes.

Noticing that Ranma was having problems Lisa took a half step back. Seeing the confused face on the redhead she assured her, "It's okay, Ranma. Here let me help." Taking Ranma's hands into her own she began to guide them across her body, slowly stripping herself of her uniform.

Now it was Lisa's turn to be nervous, as Ranma looked her over. Had she known what Ranma had planned for the night she would have went home and changed first. Instead she was caught off guard on a laundry day with plain white cotton panties and a mismatched flowered bra. But seeing the silly look on Ranma's face she realized that she probably could have been wearing granny panties and the redhead wouldn't have cared.

Making sure that Ranma got an eyeful Lisa said, "Now we go over to the bed."

Walking backwards Ranma fell onto the bed. As Lisa climbed on top or her she whispered lovingly in her ear, "Are you sure about this? Once we do this, it's done."

Ranma nodded eagerly and replied, "I want you to know that no matter what happens… that… this body belongs to you." Pausing briefly she added quietly, "And if you want there's a packet already mixed with cold water next to the bed."

Turning her head to look at the nightstand Lisa noted that, sure enough there was a large glass of water sitting there. Unsure as to whether or not she wanted to do that she replied softly, "We'll see how this turns out… and go from there." Letting her passion consume her she left a trail of kisses down Ranma's feminine form.

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2143 hours

Ranma screamed out in pleasure as another orgasm ripped through her body.

Lisa grinned slyly and stated, "You ain't seen nothing yet."

Ranma grinned from her position underneath Lisa, shook her head and said, "Na uh, it's my turn now."

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2215 hours

Nodoka had returned to her hiding spot. She had been wandering almost the entire evening trying to decide what she was going to do. If she went by tradition, then she would have to tell Ranma tonight. She shook her head, it was a lousy excuse and she knew it. She just couldn't bear it any longer; she wanted her son back, more so she wanted him to know that she loved him. Deciding to risk the consequences she gathered up the items on the desk once again and set out to Ranma's room.

2237 hours

Lisa looked up to the wrecking ball that was Ranma and gasped, "I thought you never did this before."

Sliding across Lisa's form Ranma purred, "I had a good teacher."

Raising an eyebrow Lisa grinned and shot back, "Only Good?"

Ranma smiled at her and softly whispered, "I wasn't kidding earlier…" Taking Lisa's hand into her own and placing it upon her heart Ranma continued, "What ever happens… this is yours."

Touched by the gesture Lisa went to sit up slightly so she could kiss Ranma but was stopped by the red head placing her finger on her lips and softly saying, "You could use that water over there… I don't want to force you to do something you don't want to do… and if you're not ready, I'll understand… It's just that… You know I don't like any man right?"

Lisa nodded

"But, there have been times where I wasn't quite able to defend myself properly… I know that there is almost no possibility… But I want you to have this, as well so just incase I know that I gave myself to… To someone that I care for deeply…"

Laughing lightly as her eyes misted over Ranma added, "I know it's silly and irrational, I guess I just want to show you how much you really mean to me."

Lisa stopped the girl from ranting with a embrace, pulling back to gaze into Ranma's eyes she said, "Are you sure? Just remember, if at any time you feel uncomfortable say stop and I will."

Ranma nodded not trusting her voice, because there was a small part of her that screamed out for her to stop. That it wasn't necessary, but she knew that she needed to do this. Before she forced the female side more commonly known to Ranko into self imposed oblivion she wanted the body to have a chance to live, and she wanted that chance to be with Lisa.

Lisa slid out from underneath Ranma and sat at the edge of the bed, after taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves and steady her resolve, she reached over for the large glass. Giving one more look down to Ranma she up ended the glass over her head, shifting her form into that of a male. Pausing for a second to gather his bearing Lisa rose off of the bed, after spinning around he asked, "SO, how do I look?

Ranma scrunched her nose up and responded truthfully, "Gross."

Feeling slightly put off Lisa frowned and was about to say something when Ranma cut her off.

"It's weird, I know its you but even before I never really looked at you… and that…"

Putting his hands on his hips Lisa said, "We don't have to do this, it's your idea remember?"

Ranma shook her head and crawled to the edge of the bed, taking a hold of Lisa's now much larger hand she said, "I know and I want to. Just let me lead for now."

Lisa nodded and allowed him to be pulled back onto the bed.

At first Lisa was enjoying himself as Ranma started kiss him but then he noticed that Ranma was treating his body as if it was still a woman's and it was starting to get awkward. Gently grasping Ranma's fumbling hands Lisa said, "How about If I lead and you relax and enjoy the ride."

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2302 hours

Nodoka had arrived outside her son's door; she had taken her time to arrive, using the extra moments to go over what she was going to say. Taking in a deep breath, she reached for the door chime and pressed it firmly.

Ding

Lisa cursed; she had just turned on the shower and changed forms and was hoping for a decent shower. While the experience had been fun and informative, it had also been weird as well as awkward.

DING

With a sigh Lisa realized that Ranma was in no condition to get the door, stepping out of the shower and pulling out a towel to quickly dry off her damp form. That done she stepped out of the bathroom to shrug on some clothes as the Chime rang again. Nearly falling over in her rush, she gave an exasperated sigh directed to Ranma and said, "You know, you could have answered the door while I was in the shower.

Not moving from her position Ranma whined, "But you were already up and I was comfortable."

Growling in not quite mock irritation Lisa opened the door slightly as to keep Ranma's indecency hidden and stopped.

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Nodoka had almost given up and turned around, she had thought that even if Ranma had been asleep he would have woken up and opened the door by now. As she turned away though the door opened revealing Lisa Hayes. Nodoka knew about her sons and Lisa's relationship but had never really put much thought into it other than it being a good thing. However seeing Lisa open the door with her hair soaking wet and her clothes showing that she had not taken the time to dry off properly uncovered a whole new light to it. She might not have made the same assumption had Ranma opened the door but now she was wondering where exactly her son was.

Lisa stood there for a minute in shock; she had not been expecting to get caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Forcing herself to move, as well as thankful that neither of them had said anything, Lisa quickly stepped out of the room, careful not to let the door open to wide lest she reveal Ranma in her current state. After closing the door she regarded the woman momentarily before hissing, "What are you doing here?"

Nodoka looked offended before deciding to cut the woman some slack. She was about to reply but was cut off by Lisa.

"I was looking for you almost the entire afternoon, I even had you paged."

Nodoka briefly wondered what could have happened that the xo had needed her before answering, "I was out of the office, and I needed to think about a few things."

"Well while you were out, 'thinking' I had the most enlightening conversation with your brother."

Nodoka paled slightly before getting defensive and snapping, "What would you have had me do? You only know what that place was like from second hand information, and believe me Ranma downplays it quite a bit. I was there and I did not like what I had seen."

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While the two women argued outside of the door Ranma had grown impatient and cold. Pulling a blanket around her chilled form she made her way over to the door wondering whom Lisa could be talking to for so long. Not wanting to embarrass Lisa by her current state of undress Ranma decided to put her ear to the door to find out what was going on.

She couldn't here everything they were saying but a few things were apparent. Her mother was there, it was her birthday, and she knew about the curse. But what was also apparent was that Lisa knew she knew and had hidden it from her. Bonelessly she slid away from the door and huddled in the corner. Never in her life had she felt as betrayed, and empty as what she did at that moment.

As she thought about it, it only made sense. So far for par, her life was like a broken record of lies and deception. Why should the only two women that she truly wanted acceptance from be any different than the others?

As tears leaked down her cheeks Ranma realized that sooner or later the two would finish their argument outside and come in and she did not want them to see her as she was. Leaving the blanket where it was she went into the bathroom and locked the door. Climbing into the bathtub Ranma slunk down into a ball and turned the water on. Though she did not want to feel her heart breaking, she also wanted to remember the pain and betrayal she felt so as not to make the mistake again.

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Lisa stepped into the room gingerly, knowing that she had been outside for several minutes arguing with Ranma's mother. Upon reentrance she noted the discarded blanket by the door and hear the muted sounds of the shower. Not knowing how much and what Ranma heard Lisa made her way over to the door. With a soft knock, she announced her presence to the bathrooms occupant before testing the knob and calling out softly, "Ranma… Ranma, honey are you okay?"

Ranma stifled a tear when she heard Lisa's voice. To her it wasn't fair; she had thought that Lisa had wanted her for her and not for some plot to drag her away from her old life. It seemed to her that everyone had been manipulating her, moving her one way while they stared and laughed at the freak. Then she realized what she had done, not quite an hour before and felt shamed. She had wanted to give herself fully to Lisa, so that when she was forced to do what honor demanded she would have at least known what she thought was love in it's most intimate form. Now she realized the folly of her reasoning, she was a joke, and a freak, why should she expect anything different as it was for par with her life.

"Ranma, when you are done in there, Nodoka and I want to talk to you. You probably heard some things by the door and are feeling upset right now but it's not as bad as what you think." Lisa attempted to reason.

That made Ranma angry, why did everyone think she was an idiot? It does take a level of intelligence to excel so well at martial arts. Plus scrolls, the good ones, are often in older languages that have subtle differences between their modern counterparts. Sure she wasn't entirely book smart but she tried. And before Lisa she had been completely ignorant of a lot of the interpersonal dynamics between men and women. But she learned at an impressive rate, and despite her accelerated flight school she still had to take the written tests before her Uncle would let her in a veritech solo. Choking back a sob Ranma raged, "TALK ABOUT WHAT? TALK ABOUT HOW YOU USED ME? ABOUT HOW EVERYONE LIES TO ME? ABOUT HOW I WAS TRICKED INTO LEAVING THE ONLY HOME I HAVE EVER KNOWN TO COME HERE AND BECOME A WALKING SIDESHOW AND MONSTER?"

"Ranma, you don't understand…"

"UNDERSTAND… OH I UNDERSTAND ALRIGHT. YOU WANT ME TO GO OUT THERE AND OPEN UP, SO YOU ALL CAN LAUGH AT ME BEHIND MY BACK. I'M JUST YOUR FRIDAY NIGHT SITCOM. NO MORE. NO MORE, DO YOU HEAR ME. I'M NOT GOING OUT THERE. I'M NOT GOING TO 'OPEN UP,' ANY MORE. "

"Ranma please, you don't understand. I just found out today. And your mother here came to set things right… I don't agree with her actions but please Ranma come out so we can talk about this." Lisa pleaded.

Ranma didn't want to leave the safety of the shower, if she did and Lisa was right then she might have misinterpreted Lisa's words. See what Ranma had at the moment was a means to an end, she could walk out that door and discover the whole truth or she could remain in the shower, unaware to the full situation and be free to continue out with her predetermined plan. In many ways she wanted to know the truth and the motivations behind them. However, by remaining ignorant she was free to continue along her predetirmed path. She figured staying was the best option, as it gave her an easier out with Lisa and would make it easier when the war was over, if she lived that long. After all, how could she possibly be manly, there were bloodstains on the sheets to say otherwise.

It was at that time that the ships Klaxons went off signifying a red alert and that an attack was emanate. Ranma wasn't sure if she could be thankful or not as she reached for the knob to change the temperature of the water. She did pause briefly wishing that he was more capable of feeling emotions than what he was, because blowing stuff up can always do wonders for ones state of mind.

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Lisa and Nodoka both cursed inwardly as the Klaxons went off, neither of them could afford to wait for Ranma to exit the bathroom as they had duties to perform.

Reining in her emotions at her current social dilemma Lisa grabbed her dress uniform started to make her way to the bridge, but not before stopping at the bathroom door once more and saying, "When this is over Ranma, you, me and Nodoka are going to sit down for a nice long talk and get this whole situation sorted out. I want you to know that I love you, even when you're being stubborn."

Nodoka who had taken a moment to set down the items she was carrying went to the door as Lisa left and said, "I know I messed up…. I'm sorry; it was never supposed to go on this long… Son, I just want you to know that I love you and that I will abide by any decision you make… The items I left next to your bed are yours, if you let me I'll explain them to you when you're ready." Turning from the door Nodoka started on her way down to engineering and softly added, "Happy birthday my son."

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Walking onto the bridge, after hitting his head on the hatchway, Captain Gloval barked, "Report."

Lisa whom was out of uniform at the moment said, "Sir, night shift reported that ten minutes ago eight ships folded off of our starboard bow and commenced unloading battle pods, while staying out of range of our main weapons. Veritech squadrons are launching as we speak, the Destroids are being moved into positions and the auxiliary reflex cannons are charged. ETA of enemy forces two minutes."

"How many are we dealing with commander?"

"Sir, at this time I am not able to give you a proper estimate, the radar is being overwhelmed. We know that the SDF-1's radar can only track 1500 vessels at a time, so by a rough estimate I would say at least double that sir."

"Commander Grant, do you have a firing solution on any of the enemy vessels?"

"No sir. At the moment they are all out of effective range."

Captain Gloval walked up to the tactical display and frowned, there were too many enemy battle pods out there for the veritechs to handle alone. Pointing to the screen he said, "Tell all our forced to evacuate quadrant 3 sections 2-9. Focus the two auxiliary reflex cannons in this area. Coordinate with Col. Fokker, tell him to pull out of any area that's in danger of being over run , then we'll fire the guns into the area mopping up the enemy forces. Hopefully we can weed out some of their forces, and let the Veritech squadrons pick off stragglers."

"Aye sir."

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Ranma had just been launched out of the SDF-1, followed closely by his group. Switching to the tactical net he called, "This is Ghost one to skull one. Where do you want us, Sir."?

"Ghost one I want your group to assist in Quadrant 4."

"Roger that sir." Ranma spared a glance over his shoulder to check on his new additions; Max was flying a veritech with a matching paint scheme with Ben Dixon on his wing. Momentarily checking the machine out Ranma realized that it was almost triple the size of a Veritech in flight mode, it's front arms were moved to the underbelly, with the rear four arms staggered along the body, it's legs folded up and connected making it look like it had stubby thick wings. Switching to his groups channel he said, "We're heading out to quadrant four, stay in formation and watch out for friendly fire.

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Once in position Ranma noticed, that while the enemy was attacking in staggering numbers, they were too bunched up in places to be effective. Turning his comm. On so where he was broadcasting a constant signal he said, "Guy's, only use your missiles for the groups that are flying in close formations. I want you to use your pulse lasers and GU-12's on the stragglers, try to use the lasers primarily though. There are a lot of enemy battle pods out here and we need to make our ammo count."

"Sir, as long as it counts then there's no problem, right?" Asked an unsure Max.

"Yeah, just try to save the missiles for the groups. We're going to have to break formation, I want you guy's to remain in constant contact and try not to stray too far from your wing man."

Ranma, not having a wingman due to the odd number in his group decided that he would be best suited in the swarm. Punching his thrusters he flew into the mess with his lasers blazing and every so often firing off a missile in attempts to take out larger groups.

Ben saw the actions of his Lt. and was amazed as several battle pods began to explode in Ranma's line of fire. Not wanting to be left out of the action he punched his thrusters and shouted, "Ye haw, come on max."

From the corner of his eye Ranma caught the opening salvo from the Widow Maker. He was impressed, as a large group of battle pods ceased to exist. After taking out a few more battle pods Ranma checked on the rest of his group with his computer so as to see how there munitions we doing.

Rick and Gary were both doing fine as the two of them had remedial training to boost their hand eye coordination. Ben and Mike were fairy a bit worse as the Widow Maker is made to fire several missiles at a time, luckily though it had the benefit of having a larger Missile compliment as well as four medium sized beam cannons that seemed to be fairly effective. Max was nearly out of ammo, though he seemed to amass a large amount of kills in the short time that they had engaged the enemy.

Noticing that the other two squadrons in his sector were starting to be overwhelmed Ranma gave his groups the order to fall back so they could call in a firing solution.

"Ghost one to SDF-1 command, over." Ranma called over the tactical net.

Lisa sighed at her station, she always had a hard time hearing Ranma in combat as his voice over the speakers were so cold and devoid of excess emotions especially when she knew that Ranma was a passionate person. Well, he used to be, before the fold, one could tell his emotional state just by looking at him. But now, he was so different and after the events before the battle his voice seemed colder than usual. Flicking on her comm. She replied, "Ghost one this is SDF-1 Command, we read you over."

"Command, the other two squadrons are in danger of being over run and I'm having my group fall back to re group before we do another pass. Requesting that you fire on our position, over."

Lisa turned her head to Claudia and asked, "How long until you have on firing solution on their position?"

Taking her eyes off of her screen momentarily Claudia answered, "Three minutes forty seconds, it's the best I can do two other sectors are being overwhelmed and they are a higher priority."

"Ghost one, we have a firing solution, three minutes thirty three seconds and counting. Try to hold out a bit longer."

"Roger command, Ghost one out." Ranma replied over the comm.. Turning his attention to the flow of battle information running across his view screen Ranma Flicked on his groups Comm. and said, "We have to hold out or a little more than three minutes. What we are going to try to do is herd as many of the enemy into position, to make it easier on the SDF-1. Form up on me, standard X formation…"

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After the battle and recovery operations Ranma rushed through the final briefing with his group. The reason being that he did not want to have to deal with Lisa or his mother at the moment and knew that the longer he took the more likely he would run into them.

Moments after dismissing his group Ranma entered his quarters, noting that no one else was there he would have sighed with relief, well he would have if he had not been so deeply entwined into the soul of ice. Walking into his closet he grabbed a suitcase and travel pack and began to load them with the clothes he needed for the pageant as well as several uniforms. He figured the best way to deal with Lisa and his mother at the moment was to just distance himself away from them. So he was going to check into a hotel in Macross City for the time being.

Setting one of his suitcases next to the door as he went to pack another one Ranma noticed a bag that wasn't his sitting on the counter in his kitchenette. Turning a cursory glance to it Ranma approached it.

After staring at the bag in question for a few seconds Ranma allowed his curiosity to get the best of him, so he opened it. Reaching in he pulled out a long bundle wrapped in silk, he didn't need to unwrap it to know what it was. He figured that his mother must be calling in the contract but was waiting for him to decide when he was ready. Taking the still bundled katana in his hand he walk in to his closet and set it on the top shelf to where it was put away. Figuring that that was the only thing of importance in the bag on the counter he resumed his packing at a slightly faster pace.

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Ranma walked out of one of the three hotels within the reconstructed Macross city. He wasn't sure what was more surprising, the fact that there were three hotels inside of a spaceship that wasn't due to have any visitors with a need for a hotel, or the fact that two of the Hotels seemed to be fully booked.

He reasoned that due to the Hotels central location that a lot of the Miss Macross contestants were staying at them out of convenience, plus there were likely a few people whom still might not have rooms in the Barracks yet. There was also the possibility that some of the soldiers aboard had booked a room because they were enjoying a few days off of the duty rotation

Re-settling his pack on his shoulders Ranma grabbed his other suitcase and made his way to the last hotel in the city.

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In the bridge briefing room, the last briefing of the day way in progress. Sitting at the head of the long narrow table sat Captain Gloval wearing a contemplating frown. The battle on their side had been costly, as all battles are when you have no ready means to re-supply or take on new crew.

Overall, everyone preformed to his expectations, Engineering had managed to stabilize the output of the supplementary Reflex cannons and after adjusting their dispersal pattern they were able to take out large clusters of enemy battle pods. There had been some hull damage, but nothing major. The Destroid defenders had done their job and kept any enemy forces off of the hull of the ship.

The Veritech squadrons, with their upgrades had functioned beyond expectation considering how badly they were outnumbered, even with the SDF-1 taking out as many of the larger clusters that they could.

The reason behind his frown was the tactics that the enemy had shown in the battle. They had come in, and began to drop off, what the intelligence division reasoned to be their full compliment of battle pods. Then just moved out of range, while unloading the remainder of their forces as they moved along.

No matter what it meant, it was a bad sign. While engineering theorized that the SDF-1 was not designed specifically for ship to ship combat, it was still quite able to stand toe to toe especially with the additions of the two reflex cannons. Captain Gloval knew that if the Zentradi were to avoid direct ship to ship confrontations and just used their smaller crafts for battle, then there was a high probability that they would lose in the long run. It was unfortunate that there was not a lot of space debris to keep them hidden while they journeyed back to earth, as it would be easier to avoid the enemy rather than have to battle the way back to earth.

Originally when the SDF-1 was set to leave earth it was stocked with enough munitions and supplies for 30 day's of sustained combat, well thirty day's of what their scientists thought would last for thirty days. This conflict showed that their estimations were off and even with the new advancements and smaller munitions they only had supplies for 32 day's of sustained combat. That estimation is based off of end-of-battle recovery operations, without those supply reasoned that they might very well run out of supplies within fifteen battles. Unfortunately at the time there was nothing that could be done, perhaps when they get closer to earth something will come up to remedy the situation, he wasn't going to hold his breath though.

Supply conflicts aside, the enemies newest battle strategy had him contemplating a means to combat the hit morale was going to take if the enemy proved to be relentless in their assault. While the enemy had sent no verbal message, he was well aware of the unspoken. It said, feel our might and surrender to our superior resources. Well he had been listening and had received the message.

Now the only problem was how to combat the message. There are after all more ways to win a war than to just blast your enemy into oblivion. Moral for the men and ship in general were key to combat the message. Captain Gloval pondered for a few minutes as Colonel Maistroff was going on about how his men need to be re-outfitted again because he wanted front line units.

Once Maistroff finished, having received a promise from engineering that they would look into it, Captain Gloval cleared his throat and said, "One last thing before I dismiss you to your duties… I have decided that we are going to broadcast civilian radio and tv broadcasts out into space so that our enemy can pick them up, as stealth is no-longer an option."

Holding his hand up to stall off any incoming questions he continued, "Whether we like it or not our morale is going to take a hit and one of the means to combat this is to show the enemy just whom and what they are attacking. Furthermore, along this line I have decided that I shall host either a radio or television show every night and after every battle. During this time I will cover the casualty reports as well as general non-classified ship news. What I hope to accomplish is something along the lines of former United States Presidents Roosevelt's fireside chats. It is my hope that this will help to increase morale ship wide showing everyone that the Captain does care."

After taking a moment for his plan to settle in the minds of his officers Gloval continued, "What I am going to need from you is listings of non-secret information that I can share with the ship's populace, it can be anything from birthdays to new innovations for the people of Macross." Turning his head to look at his second officer he added, "Claudia, I'm going to need you to set this up with all the broadcasting stations onboard as I would like to be on the air on all channels at the same time. See what best works for them and go from there."

After jotting down a few notes Claudia replied, "Yes sir, I'll have something for you by the end of the day."

"Very well. Anything else that needs to be brought to my attention?" Receiving several No sir's Gloval stood and said, "Alright, if there's nothing else, then you are dismissed to your duties."

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Walking out the door to the last hotel Ranma went right into the closest alleyway to change his shirt. Turns out that while this hotel had open rooms they were reserved for the Miss Macross contestants. Well that just meant that he'd be turning into a girl a bit earlier than what he had expected to. Once he had replaced his shirt, he attempted to brace himself for the torrent of emotions that were sure to follow once he upended the bottle of water over his head.

She was barely able to hold herself together as her mind was hit with feelings of despair over the battle as well as the hurt and betrayal she had been exposed to before the battle. Falling to her knee's over the unrelenting onslaught of emotions that were quickly overrunning her, she struggled not to cry in vain as she lowered herself to where she was sitting on her butt with her knee's drawn into her chest.

Ranma began to wish that Lisa was there with her as she always helped her feel better before she caught herself. Lisa had betrayed her, and she was nothing more than a living, breathing joke to those that she loved. Rising to her feet once she had some semblance of self-control Ranma grabbed a hold of her bags and made her way back into the hotel, not even bothering to attempt to clean herself up.

Walking through he large glass doors Ranma made her way to the desk clerk. Doing her best to keep the shakiness out of her voice she said, "I'd like a room, I'm a contestant for Miss Macross and I was told that this hotel still had a few vacancies."

"Just one second ma'am, I have to see which rooms are still available." Replied the clerk.

"Ah, here we are room 214, if you'll leave your bag's right here I can have the bellhop take them up to you and show you to the room."

Ranma didn't want to be rude to the young man but she wasn't in the mood to deal with a lot of people. Doing her best to keep the sadness and loneliness that threatened to seep into her voice Ranma replied, "Thanks, but I'll be fine."

The clerk noticing that the beautiful young woman before him seemed to be distressed. He felt that he should say something but his luck with the ladies seemed to be non-existent. Reaching under the desk he grabbed a pamphlet and placed the key card on top of it and explained, "Here's your room key, and this is a menu for our kitchen. The kitchen is open twenty four seven so if you need anything, just give them a call and someone will bring it up to you."

Ranma nodded her head to the young man as he seemed to be fairly nice to her and just before she turned to make her way to the elevators, as she wasn't in the mood for more walking than what was absolutely necessary she said; "I'd appreciate it if no one knew I was here."

Nodding the clerk replied, "No worry ma'am, we here at the Macross Ramada pride ourselves with our confidentiality."

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Lisa was exhausted, she had been to Ranma's room four times looking for him, had walked through Macross city checking the Hotels as well as went over to the flight deck to check Ranma's former quarters and his office and squad room. Looking at her watch she realized that it was ten o'clock at night and she had been awake for far too many hours. Her shoulders hung in defeat and made her way back to Ranma's room to check it one more time before she gave up. With a sigh she realized though that if nothing else she knew that she'd see Ranma at the pageant as she had a back stage pass as part of Ranma's entourage.

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Reaching her assigned room, Ranma let out a sigh, she was exhausted but knew sleep would not be coming soon. Fumbling with her keycard Ranma opened the door to her room.

She supposed as far as hotel rooms were concerned the room was rather nice. It had a large queen size bed in the middle of the room, a standard dresser. A nice desk with a lamp and coffee machine resting on it. On top of the dresser was a 27 inch tv with gaming systems pre-attached, as well as a dvd player. Bringing her bags over to the closet she dumped them on the ground before kneeling down and beginning to pull out her clothes for the pageant as she knew that no matter her mood, she didn't want to dishonor the other contestants by wearing wrinkled clothes.

The nice thing about walking up to her room by herself was that she had managed to get a hold of her self a bit and while the occasional tear would escape she was not going to break down any further. Well so she thought.

While unpacking the rest of her bag she pulled out a familiar sweatshirt. If it had just been any average sweatshirt Ranma would have been able to contain herself, but the sweat shirt she now held in her hands was not any old average sweatshirt. It was Lisa's, the very same one she had borrowed from Lisa the night her mother had come over to help her prepare for the pageant.

The history of the sweatshirt was a bit more involved than just being Lisa's though. You see the faded light brown academy sweatshirt originally belonged to one Karl Riber. It was one of the few precious things that Lisa had left to remember Karl by, and Lisa had given it to her.

Cradling the sweatshirt softly to her chest, Ranma started to cry again as she remembered how much the sweatshirt meant to Lisa and How Lisa wanted her to have it to show how much she meant to her.

Forcing herself to her feet Ranma made her way over to the bed. She felt depressed, betrayed and alone, the love she thought Lisa had for her had turned out to be a joke, but yet she still yearned for Lisa to be there so she could hold her and tell her that everything was going to be alright.

Setting the sweatshirt down on the bed Ranma figured that since being with Lisa was no longer possible she would utilize the next best thing, that being the sweatshirt. Peeling off her clothes Ranma began to change into the sweatshirt and a pair of panties.

Sitting back down on the bed after she finished changing Ranma let out a sigh, as much as she didn't want to think about it she was lonely and had grown accustomed to not sleeping alone. Not wanting to go to sleep yet Ranma turned on the TV and then picked up the phone. She figured that maybe she could get her mind off of Lisa if she preoccupied herself with other things, and if that didn't work then perhaps some sweets might cheer her up.

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Waking up the next morning proved to be difficult for Ranma as she was still feeling distraught from the previous few days. Groggily she reached over expecting to feel a warm body next to her but was confused. Briefly she wondered where Lisa had gone before she realized that she was not in her own bed and that's when the rest of the previous events funneled back into her mind. Ranma had been hoping that it had just been a nightmare and when she woke up it was all going to be okay again.

Sitting up with a sigh she muttered, "It's never going to be like it was…" Snorting bitterly she added, "Hell, it never was what I thought it was. Was it?"

Getting up from her bed she began to stretch out after realizing that she had just over two hours before she had to check in for the pageant. However, Ranma wanted to arrive early so that she could take care of a few things and if it worked out then she might not even wind up competing.

Before she had fallen asleep the night before she had reached a conclusion, and that was that she was being disrespectful as well as dishonoring the other contestants as she was not a real girl. So since she had to see the pageant director to change her 'talent' she was going to arrive fairly early. Of course she also had one other small task to take care of as well, she also had to go down to security and have Lisa's back stage pass revoked because the last thing she wanted was to deal with her at the moment.

Ranma thought the reasoning behind her wanting to reveal her curse as rather simple. One it would let everyone else see that she wasn't a real girl and thus should be judged as that, if not booted from the pageant. Also because of the fact that her body was a curse she was feeling extremely guilty about lying about herself to everyone.

Once Ranma finished with her light stretches, she began to get ready. That meant she had to pack up the stuff she needed for the pageant as well as take a brief shower. Since she didn't want to change forms but didn't want to temporarily lock her form she decided to take a cold shower.

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----- one hour later -----------

Ranma set her bags down in a huff, it had taken her fifteen minutes to leave her apartment and five to walk to where all the pageant contestants were to sign in. But it had taken forty minutes of standing in line and waiting to get into the dressing room. She had been surprised when she had initially arrived, as she was almost the last in line, meaning that everyone else decided to arrive early.

Standing in line though allowed for her to get a glimpse at her competition and see if there was anyone there that she recognized. Though at the same time she hoped that she wouldn't have to run into Claudia, because she was unsure of what to say to her. Sure Lisa had been trying to get her and Claudia to bond on some level, but Ranma had known better. Claudia had always thought of her as a joke and was only nice to her because of her relationship with uncle Roy. (2)

The one she wanted to see though was nowhere in sight, it seemed Minmay must have arrived really early because Ranma could not make her out in the line in front of her. Though with Ranma being rather short and Minmay not being much taller it would have been difficult for Ranma to see her even if she was within twenty people in front of her.

The one thing standing in long boring lines with young women who saw you as an obstacle, something Ranma was somewhat familiar with, was that one has plenty of time to either firm their resolve or let it crumble into oblivion. And Ranma was right on the line; she didn't know what to do and really wished she had somebody to talk to. Having already asked security to revoke Lisa's pass, though security was a bit wary of it due to the fact that Lisa was the most powerful woman on the ship, Ranma decided to seek out Minmay after she finished setting out her stuff so it wouldn't wrinkle.

Ranma felt that Minmay was safe, as she had met Minmay long before reuniting with her mother. Plus they had bonded; initially because Ranma had saved her from a group of would be rapists. (3) But then Minmay and her family had helped her overcome some of her self-loathing.

Taking her evening gown out of her bag she hung it up at her station, before going off in search for one of the only friends she had left.

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After a few minutes of walking by several stations and receiving several glares, Ranma finally came across Minmay but not before having to hide for a few minutes when Claudia saw her.

Stepping out behind Minmay, Ranma shuffled her feet nervously as she waited for Minmay to take notice of her.

Looking up into the mirror as she grabbed a hold of a brush to work on her hair, Minmay paused. Ranma was standing behind her looking rather nervous and distressed, the older current girl had large bags under her eyes showing that she had not slept well. Turning to face her friend she asked, "Is something wrong Ranma?"

Ranma had been holding up rather well all things considered but upon hearing Minmay's question Ranma burst into tears once more and lunged into the younger girls arms.

Minmay just stood there momentarily before wrapping her arms around her friend and attempted to calm her distraught friend. Taking a deep breath she pulled Ranma fully into her stall and used one of her arms to slide the privacy curtain closed, to offer a bit of privacy.

After a few minutes, Minmay had decided that Ranma had calmed down enough for her to tell her what was going on. Pulling out of the embrace she asked a still crying and hiccupping Ranma, "What's wrong?"

Not wanting to look Minmay in the eye's Ranma attempted to answer as best she could and replied, "Lisa… My mom… She knew… Freak… Joke… I can't… This…"

Minmay gave Ranma another hug, it bothered her to see her usually strong and confident friend like this. Giving the red-head a light squeeze she said, "Shh, it'll be okay."

After a few more minutes Ranma had calmed down to where she was now just sniffling. Sighing softly Minmay asked, "Do you want to talk about it now?"

Ranma sat there silently for a few seconds contemplating what she was going to say. Not wanting to waste Minmay's time any more than what she had already because of her breaking down Ranma quietly whispered, "I… can't do this… It's not honorable for me to be here cause I ain't a real girl… I'm just a freak… I just wanted to before I went to see the director…" Swallowing nervously and allowed the words to rush out, "I'mgoingtotellthemaboutthecurseandseeifthey'llletmeuseitonstageforthetalentportion."

Being familiar with rushed speak as she was Minmay look as second to repeat what Ranma had said in her mind. _"I'm going to tell them about the curse and see if they'll let me use it on stage for the talent portion" Sighing_ to herself Minmay asked, "Are you sure you want to do that?" Noticing that Ranma seemed a bit reluctant to answer she pressed, "I know usually you tend to keep it as secret as you can… So why, reveal it now? Especially when you're going to be doing it in front of the entire ship. If you do this, everyone will know… Are you sure about this?"

"What does it matter anyway, least this way they'll know I'm a freak." Ranma said as she looked down at her feet.

Minmay bit her lip, she wasn't sure but she was beginning to suspect that something had happened between Ranma and Lisa. Lifting Ranma's chin to where she could look the redhead in the eyes she asked, "Does this have something to do with why Lisa isn't here with you right now?"

Ranma nodded hesitantly and mumbled, "My mom has known about the curse for some time… Lisa and them… I'm just a joke and a freak to them."

Minmay hugged the girl once more and whispered soothingly in her ear, "you're not a joke Ranma… You are strong and brave… And if you're a freak then I'm an alien." Sighing as she let go of the embrace she gave Ranma a warm look with a bit of sadness mixed in it. The sadness apparent was not out of pity; no it was for all that her friend went through. Minmay wasn't sure about what was going on but at this point it didn't matter. No what mattered was stopping her friend from doing something that once, Ranma came to her senses, and she would regret revealing his curse in such a fashion.

Moving behind Ranma, Minmay positioned themselves to where they could see their reflections in the mirror and said, "If you really want to do that to yourself then you can and I won't stop you. However, I really don't think that you want to do that, there's no telling what will happen if every one finds out about your curse." Embracing the girl from behind Minmay asked, "Do you really want every one to know about your curse?"

"Why does it matter if a few more people know? It doesn't change that I'm a dishonorable freak." Ranma muttered.

Minmay sighed to herself, this was going to take awhile and while to her it didn't matter if Ranma competed or not, she still had a lot to do before she was ready.

Minmay sat there with Ranma talking for what seemed to be hours but was actually 40 minutes. In the end she had managed to talk Ranma out of wanting to reveal her curse. In the end it had been rather simple, Minmay had switched her tactics and instead of saying that it was a bad idea, she just simply told Ranma that she should just drop out of the competition completely rather than turning herself into a spectacle. Because if Ranma went through with her plan, she was just going to ruin the competition with a scandal and it wouldn't be fair to do that to everybody whom had worked hard to prepare for the pageant. In the end, that was the same reasoning that temporarily lifted Ranma out of her funk and got her motivated enough to actually compete. So after helping Ranma wash up they parted ways to finish getting ready.

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Wearing a simple but elegant light blue evening gown with a long slit that started at her ankle and finished at her upper thigh Ranma stood in line with the rest of the other contestants waiting for the pageant to begin so they could walk out on stage and be introduced.

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Lisa was angry and hurt as she walked away from the backstage area. She was hurt because Ranma had her backstage pass revoked and now she didn't have a way to contact her and explain until after the pageant. More so though, she was angry with herself, in the past few days she had made a lot of mistakes with their relationship.

For starters she realized that no matter how Ranma had come across, sleeping with her had been a bad idea. With hindsight being twenty-twenty and all that Lisa now realized that Ranma was not yet mentally ready for it. But even before that Lisa realized that she should have said something about her finding out that Nodoka knew about the curse. She should have known better than to just let it slide away in favor of enjoying what Ranma had planned for the night.

Having made her way out of the building Lisa stopped near the railing that overlooked the stage and sighed. She wanted so badly to be there for Ranma right now, who knows what had been running rampant through that thick skull. Kicking forward out of frustration with her foot, an action she immediately regretted as it came in contact with a solid metal bar, cursing softly to herself.

"Careful there commander, what would my nephew say if he found out you were walking around kicking things and hurting yourself." Half joked Roy Fokker.

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After the battle Nodoka had busied herself with her work, scheduling maintenance and going over battle data. She figured that she was the last person that her son wanted to see and she couldn't blame him. So she decided that she was just going to watch the pageant from her office while she worked.

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Muttering to herself darkly Lisa turned to face one of the people that she felt had betrayed Ranma. After looking at him for a minute she decided to ask, "What brings you here Colonel? Come to see if you can figure out another way to lie to Ranma." Noticing that the man flinched slightly at the venom in her tone she smiled inwardly.

Roy sighed, apparently all was not yet forgiven. From experience he decided that silence was the best option and instead of retorting he just moved closer to watch the upcoming pageant.

Walking up near him but still separated by a few feet Lisa sighed in resignation before saying, "Just so you know, we all fucked up… You, me, Claudia and Nodoka."

Roy was interested in what she meant by that, he hadn't talked to his sister in a few days and well Ranma whenever he was in his guy form never said much of anything unless it pertained to work. Watching as the contestants started to walk across the stage for their introduction he asked, "Want to talk about it commander?"

Lisa remained silent for a few minutes, only letting out a forlorn sigh once Ranma glided across the stage. Standing in silence for a few more minutes Lisa said, "The other night Ranma found out that Nodoka knew."

"I see." Said Roy as he stared at the stage.

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Ranma was a nervous wreck; she was very familiar at being ogled by men as well as being accused on more than one occasion of not having any feminine modesty. However at the moment, the butterflies in her stomach were making her more nervous than what she had ever been before. The reason behind it, the red crosspiece she was wearing for the swimsuit portion of the pageant. Although it was a one-piece Ranma still felt nearly naked wearing it. It flaunted her hips, showed off her abs, made it look like her butt was a gift from the gods and brought out her breasts tastefully. And because she knew that, it made Ranma nervous.

She kept thinking, "_Why couldn't I wear something less flattering? A lot of the other girls are wearing one pieces, I had a perfectly okay one piece… Okay so it wasn't perfect… And it had BOY written across it… But still… I feel like I'm gonna…" _

Sighing in exasperation Ranma continued, "_Okay_,_ so I' don't really know how I feel, I'm just nervous… There could be a large crowd of Kuno's long lost cousins out there or something…"_ Turning her head Ranma noticed Minmay talking to an older gajin lady who was also competing. Noticing that Minmay was wearing a solid blue one piece and that the older woman was wearing a yellow and black two piece Ranma moved forward to hear what her friend, who seemed upset, was talking about only to hear Minmay be called onto the stage leaving Ranma within a few feet of the Gajin.

Ranma stood there hoping that the older woman wouldn't notice her.

"I'm not going to sign an autograph for you."

Ranma blinked, that had been rather unexpected, she wondered briefly who this woman was that she thought that she wanted an autograph before blurting out, "Huh, why would I want your autograph? You don't look like anyone special to me." After a moment Ranma smirked devilishly and added, "Besides you probably won't win this." Using her hands to gesture to her own assets she continued, "I know I'm better built as are a lot of the others."

The woman huffed arrogantly, but instead of retorting she opted to just turn her head to act as if Ranma was not even there.

Now normally Ranma might not have said that but after seeing that Minmay seemed to be a bit upset when she turned to go on stage Ranma had decided that pushing the woman's buttons was not a bad thing as she had hurt her friends feelings.

Standing backstage with nothing to do, Ranma began to think about why she was still there and competing. Minmay had told her to quit if she couldn't get a hold of herself. She had said it wasn't worth it to ruin the pageant for the others because she was upset. Sure Minmay hadn't used those exact words but that was the jist of it. It was then that Ranma was able to push her problems aside for a bit, and while she was still thinking about them, she wasn't going to dwell on it until after the pageant. Another thing that Minmay had managed to do was to get her to actually compete, Ranma now reasoned that while before she was going to compete; now she was fired up about it. After all if these girls put that much effort into it then she had to put her all into it as well because if the couldn't beat her, who wasn't even a real girl, then they must not have prepared enough.

Hearing her name called out Ranma lifted her head confidently and applied a little bit of ki to her assets. It was a little trick that Ranma had to have beaten into her once she had gotten the curse because she didn't want to go around wearing a bra to keep her chest from hurting during spars and fights. She supposed that it was similar to how Ryouga is able to take the blows that he does. But adding a bit of ki to her chest had an added effect of making her chest seem just a bit more perky than what they were. However with all the girls with the exception of a few were walking around the dressing room with tape on their breasts, holding them up to look fuller, Ranma realized that this was a technique that should be forbidden because of it's effectiveness.

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Walking out on stage, Ranma ignored the catcalls and whistles as she made her way across the stage as elegantly as she could. Her eye's drifted across the crowd and she was able to spot her entire group there. Rick seemed to shrink down in his seat a bit. Max was also shrinking down in his seat, most likely because Ben and Mike were standing up whistling loudly. Gary just gave her a thumbs up when he caught her eyes on him. Reaching her turning point Ranma pulled her gaze away from her teammates and moved into her position behind a taller blonde.

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It was now time for the evening gown competition. Ranma was wearing a full length Black Cheongsam with Red Cherry Blossom's embroidered on it. Hearing her name called out again Ranma stepped forward and prepared to go on stage.

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Nodoka sat in her office quietly as she watched Ranma walk across the stage. She noted with apparent sadness that Ranma was a very beautiful and gifted person and that she as the mother had had nothing to do with it, other than adding stress and breaking her child away from everyone she cared about in favor of her own greedy desires.

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It was now time for the talent portion of the pageant and Ranma was feeling more nervous than before and she wasn't sure why. She supposed that it could be the fact hat she was going to sing in front of the entire ship, but she figured that that couldn't be it considering that she had done some rather embarrassing things in front of the school back in Nerima. Wearing a Bunny suit was foremost on her mind. She knew that her swimsuit had been more revealing than the gown she was singing in, so it couldn't be that. The gown she was wearing was as she described it upon it's purchase, black with red glittery thingys all over. She nearly laughed at that remembering Lisa's face when she had said that, before pushing that thought from her mind. She knew that it would not do to be distracted. Colors aside the gown had a low neck and barely a back to it. It hugged her frame rather nicely as it flaunted her curves.

Hearing her name called once more she made her way over to the entrance waiting for the host to announce her on the stage.

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Ranma walked out in a slight daze, she was getting more and more nervous and now that the time had come she was feeling almost ready to bolt. She tried to apply the soul of ice, but as her previous attempts in her girl form it was not working. Stepping up to the mike nervously she stood there for a minute, too nervous to say a word.

She scanned the audience, looking at the eager and anticipating faces. She flashed a nervous smile before her eyes were able to pick out two figures on the outside of the arena looking in. Letting all her sadness and hurt flow into her she said, "I am singing Rain, previously preformed by Mai Yamane, written by, Tim Jensen."

The music started and focusing on all her emotions, Ranma began to sing.

I don't feel a thing  
and I stopped remembering  
The days are just like moments turned to hours

--

Mother used to say  
if you want, you'll find a way  
Bet mother never danced through fire shower

-

Walk in the rain, in the rain, in the rain  
I walk in the rain, in the rain  
Is it right or is it wrong  
and is it here that I belong

-

I don't hear a sound  
Silent faces in the ground  
The quiet screams, but I refused to listen

-

If there is a hell  
I 'm sure this is how it smells  
Wish this were a dream, but no, it isn't

-

Walk in the rain, in the rain, in the rain  
I walk in the rain, in the rain  
Am I right or am I wrong  
and is it here that I belong

-

Walk in the rain, in the rain, in the rain  
I walk in the rain, in the rain  
Why do I feel so alone  
For some reason I think of home

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From her perch outside of the auditorium Lisa could feel the song crawl across her skin as Ranma put forth all her emotions behind her. Unable to take it any more she became overwrought with guilt and felt tears making their way down her face.

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As she was reduced to tears Nodoka couldn't help it as an overwhelming sense of pride crept into her despair over betraying her child.

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Ranma finished the last verse and hung her head, not wanting the audience to see the tears that had started to leak down her face. The audience had been silent captivated by her voice. Ranma was about to turn away in defeat, thinking that she had bombed the talent portion and was caught off guard as the audience erupted into a standing ovation. Momentarily stunned at the response she stood there frozen until she felt the announcers hand on her shoulder.

Snapping back to the moment, she began to move. First she offered a small bow before, as gracefully as she could, making her way backstage where she was met by a gushing Minmay.

"That was beautiful, Ranko."

Ranma pulled herself away from Minmay, those words hadn't come from her friend. No those words came from a woman Ranma had been hard pressed at avoiding all night, one Claudia Grant.

Backing away Ranma felt cornered, she didn't want to have to deal with Claudia at the moment. As politely as she could muster she said, "Thank you Commander… I… Um… I have to go change, seeyoubyegoodluck."

Minmay was puzzled she wasn't sure what had caused Ranma to run away like that. Turning to Claudia she asked, "Is this about what happened between Lisa and Ranma."

Claudia was confused, did Lisa already tell Ranma that they had known? Because if she had then Claudia would have expected anger over Ranma just running away like that. Turning her attention back to Minmay she said sadly, "I don't know, what happened with Lisa?"

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The Announcer stood at center stage, ready to announce the final five. Once the drum roll finished the announcer excitedly stated, "And now we have narrowed the contestants down to the final five. Once we have them on stage they each will be asked three questions. After that then we will be calling on YOU, the audience to help us with the final voting, so I want you all to keep your keypads handy and give a large rounded applause for our finalists."

"Actress extraordinaire, Miss Jan Norris"

"The SDF-1's second officer, Lieutenant Commander Claudia Grant."

"SDF-1's Communication officer, Ensign Sammie Porter."

"Our very own, Miss Lynn Minmay."

"And last but not least, hailing from the Nerima district of Tokyo, Japan, Miss Ranko Tendo."

As the applause died down the contestants were led over to five seats set up center stage, a good distance from the front where there was a microphone in its stand for them to use.

In her seat, Ranma was a wreck; she never figured that she would make it as far as what she had. It was taking all her concentration just to sit still and not appear to be a jumble of nerves. But as contestants began to go through their final task, Ranma couldn't help but feel it was wrong of her to be there. Sure she had decided to compete; sure she had decided that she would give it her all. However deep down she felt it was wrong, the people next to her were women, women whom had tried their hardest to get there, woman who were born that way, whose entire lives were subjected to fads and fashions. Steered by society to do their best to look and act feminine, and Ranma felt guilty, she wasn't a woman. Before her curse she never had to deal with societies expectations on what was proper. There was never a day in her life where she was worried about looking fat or any of the stereotypical things Ranma thought women worried about.

Hearing her name called Ranma stood while straitening out her gown. Making her way gracefully to center stage Ranma approached the microphone. The nervous fluttering sensation only increased to the point where it was almost unbearable. Flashing a nervous smile at the Judges, Ranma waited for the panel to ask her, her questions.

The first one was easy enough, she was asked, "What were her hobbies." Briefly Ranma felt a surge of her former confidence resurfacing and she replied, "Martial arts, I am the heir to my families style and have been trained since I could walk in many obscure and nearly forgotten styles."

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Lisa had returned to her former perch next to Roy, overlooking the stadium. She had been tempted to ask for a cigarette to help calm herself down. But when she heard Ranma's name called for the final five she was beaming with pride. Sure Ranma thought that she had betrayed him but Lisa hoped that they would be able to move behind that, eventually.

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"If you could have one wish, what would it be?"

It was a simple question overall on par with what is your favorite food. But for Ranma despite the simplicity of the question, the answer was a bit more complex. Instead of a surge of confidence she felt her stomach drop as her insecurities decided that now would be the best time to assert themselves.

"_A cure, no more being laughed at, no more being a freak, no more accusations of being a pervert, a chance for real happiness, love, no more pain, acceptance, life."_

Her eyes swimming across the audience searching for the elusive answer Ranma stepped back. She felt cornered, the walls were beginning to close in on her. Hoping to calm herself she stopped their wandering at a point beyond the crowd, ultimately resting on the one person she had hoped was no-longer there.

It came out a whisper, soft and clear, perhaps she meant to say it. Maybe it was a Freudian slip, maybe it was her nervousness, but the crowd heard her answer.

"Lisa."

The smothered feeling returned tenfold, she couldn't take it. Taking another step back she looked around for the closest exit. The audience was standing there shell shocked, not knowing the symbolism of the answer but at the same time noting its significance. Turning her attention behind her Ranma noticed that both Claudia and Minmay were halfway raised out of their seats, presumably to stop her from bolting.

Facing front again her eyes began a frantic search for a way out as she began to offer apologies.

"I'm sorry… I don't belong here… I… Just… I can't… "

Looking forward she offered one last time, "I'm sorry."

Glancing up Ranma saw her way out. Bracing herself slightly she jumped up swinging herself onto the catwalks and fading from view.

A- borrowed this idea from, The Master. It's a jet li movie, while not one of his better ones the exorcise does improve hand eye coordination.

b- I'm aware that the name is cliché, however I am honoring one of my favorite bars that I used to go to before it closed.

)2) a few chapters back Ranma believed that Claudia was only being nice to her because of her uncle. The evidence she has is that instead of spending anytime with him she went and pushed Lisa to talk to him and then disappeared. Think it was the middle of chapter two or three.

)3) first chapter, it's part of a flashback right after Ranma arrives in Macross.


End file.
